


Hi stranger

by sagewhisker1111



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Family, High School, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-09-19 15:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9447134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagewhisker1111/pseuds/sagewhisker1111
Summary: Matt first met Mello online, on a site called Omegle. It was just perfect timeing that he met Mello the next day, and put two and two together. Then he finds himself having these feelings that won't go away, and when he figures them out, his life changes for the better. At least that's what he believes, the parents though? Thats debatable.





	1. The name's Mello

 

_You are speaking with a random stranger, say hi!_

I looked at the page for a moment, debating whether I wanted to chat with another random person or not. Honestly, I would prefer to go and play Super Mario World right now. All you ever get on Omegle is people asking for nude pictures or boring chit chat, or an excruciatingly mind-numbing combination of the above. I have been on here for an hour now, and I still have no clue as to why I was even here in the first place, given how boring it was and all that.

Sighing audibly, I eventually typed up a quick 'Hello' just for the heck of it, and waited for a response.

_Stranger: Hi there._

"Oh look, finally someone who doesn't immediately ask for nudes," I muttered sarcastically, and relaxed slightly in my chair as I typed back,

_Me: What's your name? I'm Mail._

I decided I might as well use my real name instead of my nickname this time, no harm in it.

_Stranger: Hello Mail, the name's Mello._

_Me: What kind of name is Mello?_

_Stranger: My ****ing name damn it!_

_Stranger: Besides, you're one to talk, what kind of name is Mail?_

Wow, anger issues alert. Well, at least they haven't asked for any nudes yet…or worse, sent some themselves (ugh!).

_Me: Wow dude, calm down._

_Stranger: Why should I? You're the one making fun of my name._

_Me: Okay, okay, I'm sorry._

_Stranger: I don't even know why I'm on this site._

_Me: Huh. I was just thinking the same thing, this place sucks. We have something in common I guess! :P_

_Stranger: Haha, you're an idiot_

Well that was rude.

_Me: You're not mellow at all :(_

And, while I know that 'Mail' really isn't a very common name (my parents have really weird tastes), but who the hell names their kid Mello? Like, that's almost worse than being named Mail. Almost.

_Me: Who named u that anyway?_

_Stranger: I did._

Would you just look at that, someone's got even weirder tastes than my parents.

_Me: How do you name yourself?_

Well I can't judge, I call myself Matt. But hey, I'm bored and this is, really, just some stranger. 'Matt' beats 'Mail' any day in the Great Name's for Human Beings Contest anyways.

_Stranger: I just did it dammit, you're annoying._

_Me: Then why r U still talking to me?_

_Stranger: Because it's this or mind numbing boredom and frustration_

_Me: Ah. So how old are you anyway?_

_Stranger: Why should I tell you?_

_Me: Why not?_

_Me: I bet I can guess._

_Stranger: Try then_

_Me: 17?_

_Stranger: You just guessed your own age_

_Me: True -_- but was I right?_

_Stranger: I don't like you_

_Me: So I was!_

_Stranger: Yes, yes, you want my address too or what?_

I could practically feel this guy's irritation, and a smirk formed on my lips.

_Me: Nah, if I wanted it I would already have it_

_Stranger: What do you mean?_

_Me: Hacker_

_Stranger: Shit. Well, I'm bored of you so I'm gonna go_

_Me: Aw ok, you're an ass anyway_

_Stranger has disconnected_

"Pfft, whatever." I grumbled.

Still, that was kinda fun; I almost wish he continued talking to me. I could trace his computer of course, but after a moment's contemplation I decided not to. I'd rather play Super Mario World anyway. So with that only half decided, I hopped up from my computer chair and stretched, before going downstairs to use the Playstation. Though, of course the second I sat down on the plush couch, Dad had to call for me.

"What?!" I yelled back at him, as he was apparently in the kitchen.

"Come over here!"

I grumbled to myself, but got up anyway, making my way into the kitchen at a rather lazy pace.

Our house is a nice size, four bedrooms, a bathroom attached to two of them, basement suite, large yard; this house has apparently been in our family since the street was built. And no one ever bothered to expand it, only renovating things that needed to be fixed when they broke. So while the rest of the street became posh-villa with big mansions, etc. our house stayed mediocre compared to them. The only good thing that came out of it was the cheaper price due to its old model.

-So of course, when I saw a middle aged man and woman in the kitchen, I knew that someone had moved into the mansion next door, and they were obviously more snobby rich people that I had no interest in meeting.

"About time Matt, this is Mr. and Mrs. Kheel, they just moved into the neighborhood and wanted to get to know their neighbors." Dad politely gestured to the couple sitting at the kitchen table, and I took a moment to observe them.

The woman was small, with straight blond hair that curled at the ends, bright blue eyes that accentuated a dainty nose, and a heart shaped face. Whereas the man was taller, and looked like someone in a police force, brown hair and blue eyes as well, though his features were more sculpted than his wife's. Just another decent and rich couple, but I still didn't want to socialize with them though.

"Hello Matt." The woman, Ms. Kheel offered me her hand, smiling all the while. "You're welcome to call me Angela if you'd like."

"And you can call me Eric" Mr. Kheel said, smiling slightly.

I accepted her gesture hesitantly and nodded curtly, while I heard my father sigh in exasperation towards my attitude.

"I am glad one of our neighbors has a son your age, our own son, Mihael, is still at the house unpacking, but maybe you could meet him sometime?" She suggested, her voice taking on a cheerful tone.

"Yeah, maybe." I responded dully, though I was holding back a smirk from my face. I did catch the slight change in her tone when she mentioned the kid, so I bet he doesn't want to live here. Ah well, life sucks.

"Why don't you come over for supper tonight?" My father then suggested, obviously trying to divert the conversation's flow so that the Kheel's didn't have to put up with my rudeness.

"Oh, supper would be great, but we are tired from our trip, so perhaps tomorrow night?" Eric said graciously in response.

"Yes of course, tomorrow works as well." My Dad said rather happily.

I for one, didn't understand the excitement of having guests over for dinner, it seems like a waste of time. But nonetheless, I took the opportunity to slip back into the living room and flop down onto the couch again, pulling a pillow to my chest as I clicked the power button on the TV remote.

Well, then. I've got stupidly cheerful neighbors and dinner tomorrow, maybe I can make up an excuse to skip the dreadfulness. Maybe a headache? I have those a bit frequently, so maybe my parents will even buy it. Yeah, right. Like they'd let me skip out on an occasion to "socialize!" and "make new friends!" I huffed as I picked up my Nintendo game controller, and began to click buttons to set up my gameplay. Tonight, I was staying up late playing Super Mario World.

* * *

"Matt."

"Nng."

"Matt, are you really still asleep?" My mom asked in disbelief, and I heard the door handle rattle as she obviously tried to enter my room.

"Go away." I grumbled, snuggling further into the comfortable bosom of my bed.

"Did you stay up all night again?"

Yes, yes I did, but I am not going to tell her that because if I at least deny it, she won't throw a fit. "No."

"Matt come on, the Kheels are going to be here in half an hour, get up!" She then shouted through my door, clearly getting fussy with me now.

"Don't want to!" I yelled in response, but by now I was already pretty awake, just staring at the red fabric over my head.

"Matt, I'm going to sell your game consoles if you don't get ready." She warned; Like she hasn't used the same threat on me a million times now. God, she should come up with some new threats now.

"Don't care, go away!"

"Matt please, I know you don't like these dinners but it's the polite thing to do." She begged this time, and sarcastically I responded, "Because I'm such a polite and lovable boy,"

"You know that Camaro you wanted?"

"Like you're gonna actually buy it for me." Definitely not, the thing is worth like, I don't know, fifty grand or something.

"Well I'm buying it for you, so be grateful and get ready."

"Say what?" I asked, dumbstruck, as I pulled my covers down and sat up a little, holding myself up with my hand.

"You heard me, now come on." She said, before walking away. I sat there for a minute, mutely, trying to sift through all the emotions swirling in me, anger; shock, joy, guilt, yada, yada. But I have to give her credit, she finally started calling me Matt, like I preferred, instead of Mail. Maybe all my constant reminders finally registered in her mind.

I stayed still for another second in the warmth of my duvet, not wanting to break the bubble of coziness I was in. But eventually, I did resign myself to facing the damn music and slid out of the bed lazily, before throwing on a red and black striped shirt and some baggy jeans that were tossed around on the floor, ran my hands through my hair lazily, and slapped my goggles over my eyes.

Of course (no matter how lazily I did it) I would get out of bed for a car, especially for a Camaro. Now I just had to hope that this new kid isn't as much of an ass as I think he might be.

I picked up my PSP and shoved it into my pocket before heading down the stairs to the kitchen, where I was greeted by my parents. I ignored them and sat down on a chair to play my PSP, hoping that they would return the favor, and ignore me as well.

"Matt can you set the table?" Of course they wouldn't return the favor. Something to do with 'family values', or some highly idealized bullshit, but that didn't mean I was going to comply.

"No."

"Matt." Dad said warningly.

"Come on, at least I came down here." I countered, not looking up from my device, just to add effect.

Dad sighed and went back to helping my Mom with the meal. I had only gotten through seven levels of Sonic when there was a knock on the door though, and Dad hurried over to invite our guests inside. I didn't bother to look up as I heard shuffling and greetings until they arrived in the kitchen, and when I did look, I made sure they didn't notice, and that I appeared to be playing my game still.

I looked past and Angela and straight to their son, and I almost broke out in laughter right then and there. But it's a good thing I have control, because he looked pissed and me laughing would have only made it worse. I guess my deduction of the real reason we didn't see him yesterday was indeed right, he definitely does not want to be here. It's hilarious, really.

I guess I was so distracted by his apparent anger that I didn't really pay attention to how he looked at first either, and it only made me want to laugh even more. He really looked like a girl, first, resembling his mother the most: skinny, short, blond, blue eyes, did I forget to mention long hair? It reached his shoulders and looked straightened a bit as well, and just like his mother, his hair framed a lookalike dainty nose, fine lips, and slightly more masculine face shape. Also, he was clad in leather, very tight leather, which made him look like he played for the other team, i.e. I am absolutely certain this kid is gay.

"This is our son Mihael. Mihael, this is Mr. and Ms. Jeevas." Mr Kheel introduced and I visibly saw the blond tense at that, the action was questionable, but I dismissed it as him just disliking the attention.

"Matt, put down your game and come over here to introduce yourself." Mom said sharply, so I guess my attitude was wearing her patience down by now. And then I realized Mihael had just noticed me and I really wished Mom'd never spoken, I swear this guy wanted to kill me, if not that, then he probably decided to hate me from here on, judging by the murderous look on his face.

I refrained from a sigh, and I got up from my seat, still playing my game just to spite them a little and offered my hand to Mihael, while still playing single-handedly.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Matt." I drawled the words, not expecting a response of any sort, and I was right. He just huffed and crossed his bare arms, so after a moment I shrugged and slouched back over to my seat.

"Don't be so rude." I heard his mother scold him, but I was paying even less attention now as I was going through a boss level on my game.

"It's okay Angela, we understand." Mom said coolly, with Dad nodding in agreement.

"Mihael, you can sit down if you like, dinner is ready. We just need to set the table," Mom said afterwards, and I brought my gaze up to the blond to see his reaction. Though it turned out to be a waste of my time, as his expression didn't change in the least, and he just sat down in the seat farthest from me -still glaring at everything that was closest to him.

There was mostly silence as my mother and Angela set the table, before everybody sat down. Mihael and I at both of the farthest ends, my mom and Angela on the right, and my father and Mihael's on the left.

"Alright, help yourselves." My mother said after a moment, and after a short "thank you" from everyone, they all moved and took what they wanted. Including me, as I set down my game even though I wasn't that hungry, and took some spaghetti with bread. Though I noticed out of the corner of my eye, if it was possible, Mihael looked even grumpier than before, he also didn't move to take any food, which I admit is pretty insulting. My mom is a great cook.

"Honey, aren't you hungry?" His mother questioned when she too noticed this, but he only averted his gaze and gave her a flat out "No". That is when I noticed the rosary around his neck, hidden under his vest but most definitely a rosary. So I guess he's probably upset that we didn't do any prayers or something. Jeez, this guy is already a pain to deal with, I wonder if he's going to go to my school too...

His mother simply sighed in response and continued eating. The rest of the way through dinner I didn't pay attention as they spoke about politics and whatnot, but instead resigned myself to continue playing on my PSP while eating. About half an hour later, I noticed Mihael growing less irritated and more bored. And, it's not that I liked the guy or anything, but I was becoming bored as well. I also know my parents wouldn't just let me go back to my room like I wanted to, so the best option really is to ask him to hang out with me.

"Hey, wanna go play some games or something?" I suggested, putting down my game to look at him.

For a moment he looked angry again, and I thought he was going to be an idiot, decline and spoil everything, but then he finally decided to be sensible and hesitantly nodded. I guess he realized (from the look on his face) that this was the only good option he had at this point.

"Sure," He agreed and stood up, before following my lead as I got up as well and lead the way into the living room. As expected, neither of our parents said anything, and just gave us nods as if we needed permission. Honestly, I would have just gotten up anyways if they said no. In the living room, I flopped down onto the couch again, in the same place as before, and turned on the TV screen, it was still on from my game from last night, so luckily my parents hadn't turned the console off during the day.

"I'm not going to play any games with you." Mello deadpanned as he stood beside the couch and eyed the screen. I smiled lightly, the guy seemed to think I was a bit of an idiot.

"I know." I supplied as I pressed play, and started loading my game. "But you looked bored and so was I."

"Hm." He nodded in agreement, and finally took a seat on the other side of the couch.

"So, care to tell me why you're so pissy?" That's clearly my brilliant technique for starting a conversation. I may be pretty intelligent in general, but I wouldn't give myself a medal for socialization, that's for damn sure.

"None of your business." He huffed.

"Okay." I drawled in response, as my game loaded and I began playing.

We sat in silence for awhile, Mihael still tense and clearly unhappy. But, though I didn't mind the silence, I couldn't help teasing him a little.

"You look like a girl you know?"

"Fuck off." He hissed.

"Well considering this is my house Mihael, I think I'll stay."

"Mello."

I looked at him questioningly.

"My name is Mello."

"Mello?" I echoed, my mind beginning to race.

"What?" He snapped.

"Nothing." I turned back to my game, a little shocked.

How many seventeen year olds are named Mello? Not many that's for sure, and even less when you ask how many with a snarky attitude. And what's the chance that you can meet a guy that you talked to on a site like Omegle, and have them as your new neighbor within the span of two days? Zero to none that's what. Surely this guy can't be the same one, right? But somehow Mello not being the online stranger seems unbelievable too at this point, jeez.

"How old are you?" I asked after a moment. Let's see how he reacts. Though chances are, he'd say something along the lines of…

"None of your business."

"Hmm." That's what I thought.

But seriously, they can't be the same person, right?

* * *

**Author's note of 2017: Hey guys, welcome to the new and improved (edited) version of Hi Stranger! The absolutely amazing WinchestersOf221B helped with with this story, and I cannot thank her enough! I love you! I hope everyone enjoys, as there have been some well needed adjustments that were lacking before, and now we're ready to go ^^**

**This story is the very first I had ever written, and when I say very first I mean I had never written anything bigger than a page long essay, so it means a lot to me even though I was very inexperienced at writing at the time. It took me three months to write it, and I had no idea what I was doing all the way through. And just as well, it was a very difficult time for me, where I was going through a lot of changes and emotional drama. Even today, when I read pieces of this I notice things about myself incorporated into it, that were completely unintentional.**

**~Don't be afraid to toss a quick review whenever you're reading. It would be very appreciated!**

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. New concerns

I was beyond glad to see the Kheels leave yesterday, considering that a certain blond was glaring holes in my head the rest of the evening (that, and the fact that I ain't the most social person around town). Of course I didn't tell him why I reacted like I did to his name; hell, I'm not even sure why I didn't. But aside from the fact that Mihael is probably actually Mello and his glaring, the rest of the evening went okay. I stayed up till three in the morning playing games and letting my thoughts wander over Mello.

What? I'm not obsessed over that jerk, it's just so strange for something like that to happen, and I can't begin to comprehend it. Just a big coincidence I suppose.

Aside from that, this Monday has been normal, so far. I think Mello is going to a different school because he isn't here, and I am sorta glad. Yet I'm a teensy, weensy bit, kinda sad that he is not. That's a feeling I didn't really want to acknowledge, in case you couldn't figure that out.

I shut my locker and jogged to catch up with Beyond (The guy I choose to associate with in this hellhole) to go to our next class. Once I was beside him, I slowed to a walking pace.

"Hey, I told you too wait for me!" I complained.

"It's not my fault you are to slow," The black haired teen countered with a dismissive wave of his hand and..Was that an eye-roll? This bastard is too damn cocky!

I sighed instead of complaining, and opened our classroom door, where I sat at my usual desk beside Beyond. It is not like me and Beyond are really friends, more like school buddies. Since Beyond moved here five years ago, he stuck to me like putty and never left. Well, I don't really mind it. He can get pretty creepy and disturbing sometimes, but I trust him a good bit. Our friendship is the type where we tell each other our secrets and rest assured that the secret will never leak; which works out unsurprisingly well for me, being a person who doesn't have any friends really.

"Hey, Matt?" Beyond leaned over my desk with a purposeful look.

"Yeah?" I responded. looking at him with bland interest.

"Who's the new kid that moved onto your street?" He asked me and in response I just shrugged and drawled out; "Mello Kheel. Don't bother, he's an ass,"

Beyond visibly pouted and went back to his desk, disappointed that I answered him so flatly. Then again, what else could he possibly expect from me?

The class passed as usual for a Monday, the teacher blabbering on and handing us our assignments. I never really paid attention, never had to. Not to brag but, I ace my tests despite the fact that I'm just on my PSP during most class hours.

When the bell rang for lunch after English and Math, I grabbed my books and quickly shoved them into my locker once in the hallway, not caring if they got crumpled, and then joined Beyond in the cafeteria. I usually didn't eat anything for lunch and Beyond usually simply settled for a small jar of jam and toast, today was no different. So I immediately sat down across from Beyond at a vacant table with my PSP in hand.

After a few minutes of Beyond licking his jar of jam (told you he was a lil' bit super creepy) he spoke.

"So the kid's really an ass? Nothing interesting? Not even a small bit?"

"Well actually," I set down my PSP to look at the ravenette, in an uncommon show of attention. "You know Omegle, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well I met someone there who called themselves Mello; a little before I met this Mello at supper," I explained.

"And you think it's the same Mello?" He questioned after a slight pause, seeming only moderately interested for a guy who was so intent on digging up some dirt on Mello.

"Well, yeah. I mean, they're both rude, and when I questioned Mello's age, he answered the same as the guy on Omegle. It doesn't sound like much, but I got the same vibe from them both, you know? It's just that it just seems like too much of a coincidence." I sighed.

Beyond giggled. "Can't you just hack the IP address to see if it really is the same guy?" He suggested.

"Yea, I was thinking of doing that" I told him dismissively, before I went back to my PSP, deciding that talking about Mello with Beyond really wasn't the best kind of entertainment.

"Heh, that's pretty weird if it is a coincidence. Anyway, you got lucky, that guy is hot!" He broke out in chuckles, much to my disdain.

"I am not interested in guys, Beyond," I drawled out in response.

Beyond then looked at me with wide eyes, "It doesn't matter the gender when one is that sexy, you should understand this, Mattie!"

"Don't call me Mattie." I sighed "And I don't care about your opinion, I'm not gay as far as I can tell," I mumbled, mashing buttons on my game piece.

Beyond huffed, "You're no fun," he complained, and slid out of his chair.

Then I realized what he said, and looked up from my game in slight confusion. "Beyond?

"Hmm?" He turned to look at me over his shoulder as he paused on his way to the exit.

"How do you know how he looks? Wait, How the hell do you know that he moved in next to me?" what is he, stalking me? Is this really Beyond even? But that thought was dismissed quickly as he started laughing uncontrollably, catching the attention of everyone in the room and earning a raised eyebrow from me. "You finally caught on?" He choked, clutching his stomach in attempt to stop his laughter.

"Yes, okay. So stop laughing now," I deadpanned, trying to seem indifferent to the amount of attention on us. Thanks douchebag, Just what I needed, more attention from people.

"Oh, heh! Well, you see I was on a walk and-"

"You know what? It's okay, never mind." I cut him off, not really wanting to bother about it at this point, and I (again) went back to my game.

Beyond just grinned, not caring that I had interrupted him in the least, threw a; "See'ya, Matt!" and walked away, in more of a skip then anything, tossing his now empty jar of jam in the trash as he did so.

I sighed and continued playing my game, letting my mind blank out anything that wasn't on the small screen.

Only when the bell rang did I get up and go to my next four classes, by which passed normally, with Beyond teasing me a bit and the teacher scolding me for playing games in class. Normal as usual; except now after what Beyond said, my mind couldn't get off of Mello. Now that I wasn't ridiculing how he looked like a girl, I almost found his androgynous face and figure attractive, not in the way I ever found any girl to be, that is for sure.

But I set those thoughts aside as I left school to walk home. I didn't play my PSP like I usually do and instead let my thoughts explore whatever topic came to mind, as I walked down a back alley headed to my home. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, Mello came to mind, and I had to admit, I was a little confused.

I had never, ever thought of someone to be sexy, and these thoughts came so suddenly since I first thought about it. Mello, blond silky hair, smooth milky skin, dainty fingers, ice cold blue eyes, slim legs, and to go further he had a nice butt, that fit tightly in his leather pants, and the small part of his belly that showed, made me want to cover it in butterfly kisses...He wasn't just sexy, but actually gorgeous.

...Wait, what the hell?! Why am I randomly sexualizing the guy now? Dammit, Beyond! You'll pay for this! I was still cursing this tantalizing line of thought when I reached home.

I had never really thought of myself being gay, if anything I almost had problems with it. Like, borderline problems with it, I just didn't understand how it worked. But I didn't really ever like guys before, then again, I had never thought about my sexuality before. I just assumed I was straight.

I unlaced my converses and set them on the shoe rack before going into the kitchen, where Mom was doing the dishes.

"Hello, Matt!" She said contently, "How was school?"

"Adequate," I replied as I grabbed a bag of Salt n' Vinegar chips from the cupboard.

"Was Mello there?" She asked while I was about to leave to kitchen for my bedroom.

"No, why would he be?" I asked as I turned around to face her, a question mark forming in my mind.

"His parents said he was going to your school, but I guess he is still settling in," She said, as she worked at drying a plate.

What the heck? This coincidence thing is getting real old now.

"He probably just refused to go, he has that personality," I offered.

Mom sighed "You're probably right, I feel bad for his parents. He is a bit wild, maybe even a little worse than you." She added with a smirk.

I quite liked my mom, I definitely got her personality more so than Dad's; and even though I am rude to her sometimes, I don't really mean it and she knows that too. I'd say she understands me. I smiled, "I gotta go and study now, kay?" with that I turned on my heel and headed up the stairs to my bedroom, not waiting for a response.

Once I stepped inside my room, I threw my bag on the floor, no intention of studying whatsoever (obviously), and with my bag of chips sat down in front of my desk.

I knew the basics of hacking, only to really track addresses, cheat games, and retrieve passwords, but it is enough for me to be able to find if the Mello from Omegle is Mello from house no. 1820.

I pulled up the Google search and found Omegle, still on my ended chat with Mello. Luckily, I didn't delete it afterwards because in the back of my head I already had planned to trace it sometime. I started right away and opened up one of my most used programs and got to work. I had the program hooked to Omegle soon enough, and after a little tweaking had it set to ring out Mello's conversation with me.

Some more typing and being careful to set all of the codes just right, I had the program tracking Mello, now all I have to do is to wait, and make sure that no system found that I was hacking their site. It could take up to half an hour to finish the tracking process, so I sat back with my bag of chips and waited eagerly for it to finish. If I was better at this, I could have it in a few minutes only, but I am not so well versed in the art of hacking, so I just have to settle for this.

After a few minutes I pulled out my PS3 from my desk, preferring to use the newer gaming system at home simply out of habit, and started to play. There was no problem while the address was traced and soon my computer binged, telling me the job was done. Of course I didn't need to look at a map to know that the coordinates was smack dab beside me, I had memorized my own home coordinates easily long ago, and still do.

Wow, this is really some freaky coincidence. So weird.

So now what? Do I tell Mello?

I really don't know, but I imagine it would be a very awkward conversation. Also, there's the fact that the guy dislikes anything he sets his eyes on (and even the stuff he doesn't lay his eyes on!), except maybe his leather pants. And I had to admit, I kinda liked them too, they emphasize his booty- dammit! I shouldn't be thinking along those lines at all!

After a moment I decided to not tell Mello, not yet at least. Things will be calm as long as he doesn't know, and there is that little problem that I have found in my mind. That is something I really need to figure out, and soon. The worst part about it is that I have no one to talk to about it; well, there's Mom, but I don't that I would be able to get the words out.

With a sigh, I pushed backwards on my chair, sending me a few feet backwards as the wheels slid across the floor.

I went over my thoughts; when I first met Mello I'd almost laughed, he looked girly and definitely gay. Not to mention how pissed he looked, his eyes where a kind of steely blue that were so intense, adding to his attitude and aura. But I didn't care much, his glares didn't affect me the way I'm sure it would other kids my age. He didn't talk much that night, and I didn't care much about him, the sooner he was gone the better. Then he said his name was Mello and my curiosity was peaked a little. Then this afternoon Beyond mentioned how he was sexy and that's when I started with those thoughts, not even four hours ago.

I guess I was being ignorant and not paying much attention and then, when he was associated with something interesting, I finally started to take notice of him a little.

That is still no reason for me to find him attractive, I have never found anybody sexually attractive before. It is a strange feeling. When I was fifteen I kissed and girl, but I felt nothing, I wasn't turned on or anything of the sort. I could just assume that I am gay, but then I have never found any other guy attractive before either.

In fact I have never been very sexually active in the past, more focused on my games and my fledgling of hacking more than anything else. Now I feel just a little aroused at the thought of him. Enough though, that it confuses me.

"Jeez" I mumbled, fiddling with my shirt lazily.

I think that if I were to socialize with Mello again I would have a better idea about these feelings. But I really don't know, he clearly dislikes me, and would never want to hang out as far as I can tell.

Hell, he dislikes everyone. Maybe even himself, who knows?

I wanted to distract myself from these thoughts, but found no motivation to play games this time (shocker, that!) and after a little thought, I decided to go downstairs again.

Mom was still in the kitchen, she appeared to be starting supper now and she noticed me in the doorway pretty quickly, looking over at me with a mildly curious expression.

"Hey Matt, what's wrong?" She asked after a minute, and I straightened up, realizing I was looking rather distant.

"Uh, I don't know," I voiced part of my feelings on automatic.

"Do you want to tell me? Or is it you are just in a bad mood?" She questioned, partially teasing while peeling a potato.

I sighed, and after a short pause I moved to sit down at the kitchen table in a slouch.

"I'm not sure..." I trailed off, not sure what to say to her, I felt the need to speak to her about my feelings, like I did when I was younger. But at the same time I didn't want too, I am just scared I guess. Of her reaction, what if I tell her I might be gay, and she is disappointed in me? I just am not sure.

She pulled a chair out and sat down with some more potatoes that she was peeling in a bowl.

"You can tell me, Mail, you're my son, don't ever think that for a minute I wouldn't love you just as much, no matter what," She reassured, using my real name like she seems to do when she is serious. It's new, just like her calling me Matt, but more effective I had to admit.

"I think...I might be gay." I spoke the last bit hurriedly and worriedly, and watched her expression change for a moment before going back to her usual kind expression.

"That's fine sweetheart, it could be just a phase you know,"

I shook my head nervously, "I'm just confused about it, I have never found anyone attractive before..." I trailed off nervously, having almost said too much.

Understanding overtook over her features, and immediately I thought I shouldn't have talked to her about it, it is not just motherly intuition with her, because she is smart, really smart.

"It's Mihael, isn't it?" She questioned.

"Yes." I responded sheepishly, regretting coming down here.

"Well, I am sure whatever feeling you have for him will become known eventually, and I am fine with whatever your decision is, okay?" She asked me, concern edging her voice.

"Uh, yeah, thanks Mom. For, uh, all this. That was, um, really...helpful, I guess." I stood awkwardly from my seat, "I think I'm gonna go for a walk, is that okay?" I don't even know why I asked for her permission.

"Of course! Supper will be ready within an hour so be back before then!" She informed me, teasingly, and in response I gave her a mock salute and backed out of the room. I heard her chuckle as I entered the boot room. Despite all that pleasantry I know she'd been watching me keenly, to gauge my emotions or something, I guess.

I still felt a little awkward as I put on my converse and headed out the door. Promptly taking a left down the street, I avoided Mello's house and let out a long breath.

Mom would accept it if I was gay, but Dad was a different story. But even so, I did feel a little more comfortable now. Telling Mom did help, but I also felt it was a breach of my emotions, and it didn't put me at ease for the rest of my feelings either, it was beginning to drive me crazy.

"Matt!" A familiar voice startled me, and I turned around to see Mello's mother running towards me. She stopped a few feet before me, catching her breath and looking a little hassled from running to catch up to me.

"Ms. Kheel?" I questioned, a little confused towards her sudden appearance.

She looked up at me, hands resting on her knees and still breathing raggedly "M-Mello..."

She looked worried, and my stomach sank for a reason I didn't want to ponder at the moment. "What's wrong, Angela?"

"Have you seen him?" She panted.

"No, what happened?" I questioned, still giving her a confused look.

She shook her head, straightening out after a few seconds, "He has been gone since last night, he got mad at us after dinner and left. We were hoping he spent the night with you but he still isn't back, and we couldn't just sit around and wait for him to come back," She spoke a little calmer now, but still hurriedly.

"Uh, I haven't seen him, but I will keep an eye out. Have you contacted the police?" I added, now a little more concerned. Him being out all night in LA is not good, who knows what could happen, or has happened.

"We did, but they will only look for him if he is missing for over 48 hours!" She said, frustratedly.

I felt angry at that, "Okay, um, my mother is at home, maybe you two can drive around and look?" I asked.

"Yes, that'd be a great help," She wiped at her eyes briefly and discreetly, "Thank you, Matt."

I only nodded, waiting if she had anything else to say. Apparently, she did.

She paused uncertainly for a moment and then said, "If you find him, do call us," She then gave me a jerky nod, and it was obvious she changed her mind about what she wanted to say, midsentence. She turned away walking to my own house with a weak wave, clearly stressed. But I did notice how she acted, it seems like he has done this before.

With a nod to her back I turned around and continued walking down the street. I would keep an eye out, maybe walk into the more likely places he would be in, but as much as I wanted I couldn't do anything more.

This is ridiculous, I have only known the kid for a day and I am already sent to worrying about him. Usually I wouldn't care, and that is what concerned me now. If Beyond went missing, I probably wouldn't bother looking for him. Not because I didn't care, but I didn't care enough. I would worry, but let the police take care of it, not to mention I know better than anybody Beyond can take care of himself.

But with Mello I couldn't help not only worry, but look for him as well.

Maybe Mello is different; maybe he means something to me, even though I barely know him. I think he means something to me that I can't explain quite yet.

I pushed those thoughts back and focused on my path, by now I had gone down two streets, if I took a left I would end up at the market. If I took a right there would only be more housing residencies. Without much thought I took the left towards the market.

Five minutes of walking and I was at the building. The market was where many of the people of this area shopped, instead of having to drive half an hour to get to any of the other stores in main LA. It was like a series of small and larger shops connected, some indoor shops, some outdoor, a large parking lot usually always filled to the brim with cars -today being no exception- and the odd beggar asking for coins in the rich neighborhood for a change of pace.

I walked around the area for a little while, glancing at the wares in the shops, even though I had no money. I really doubted I would find Mello here, but there isn't much else I can do. I don't have a car so I can't go that much farther out of the area, and unless he is holed up in some back street he won't be in the residential areas. That leaves the market for me to search for my -not really friend, acquaintance I guess, acquaintance that I am attracted to. Or maybe I'm not, I don't know, and don't want to think of this that much right now. Besides, I did want to go a walk to clear my head about all the confusing emotions that are wreaking havoc in there.

I figure that Mom won't be expecting me back for awhile after Angela tells her about Mihael/Mello, and so I didn't worry about the time as I walked around. I passed a chocolate shop sometime later and let my attention settle there for a moment, it looked like they got shoplifted. Two cops were speaking with a store worker who looked angry, whilst they proceeded with taking notes. I turned away from the shop disdainfully, uninterested at the picture.

If I want a slight chance, or hope of finding Mello then I shouldn't be staring at sweet shop thefts.

Really I did hope to find him. I wouldn't want something to happen to him, at least not before I found my feelings out (and even then I still wouldn't). Putting myself out on a limb for a stranger is quite absurd, but for Mello it almost seems like something normal I would do.

Two hours passed before I knew it, and I decided to head home. That sick feeling I had in my gut about the whole Mello situation was uncomfortably familiar now. Mom noticed me from the kitchen and gestured for me to come inside, so I kicked off my shoes and entered the kitchen. Angela and Eric were sitting at the table, looking very concerned, along with Mom and Dad.

"I'm sorry I'm late," I apologized.

Mom shook her head, while Angela said, "It's okay, we're just glad that you all have agreed to help us."

Eric nodded in agreement.

"Still nothing on the situation?" I questioned no one in particular.

Angela shook her head lightly while everyone else just looked more concerned. Mom spoke up, "There is some leftovers in the fridge, Help yourself if you're hungry."

"Okay," I responded and promptly retrieved a plate, then proceeded to the fridge and took some baked potatoes, along with some salad, before sitting down with everyone else at the table. The silent mood in the kitchen made me feel worse than before and I only ate half of my plate of food before I felt queasy from eating. It felt weird to get creeped out by the silence when all I usually wanted was to get everybody to leave me alone, so I could be by myself and enjoy the calm and peace that would afford me.

Eric spoke up eventually, "I managed to convince some of my task force to conduct a search, but they found nothing,"

' _So he is a police officer_ ,' I thought with slight pride in my deductive skills, but simply nodded as I got up and tossed the rest of my food in the garbage.

From what I could gather, Mello has done this before, but his parents are still worried, most likely because of this being LA, and not wherever they came from beforehand. Also, Mello seems to have gotten used to hiding from the police, making him hard to find unless he wants to be found. But he doesn't know this area well, so that could turn into an advantage for his family. Though somehow I doubt that would stop him from hiding all that much.

Mom didn't protest when I wasted all that food, and much to my surprise it seemed even Dad was worried about Mello.

"Can I go up to my room?" I asked, breaking the concentrated silence.

Mom looked at the clock which read 7:45 and seemed surprised, looking back at me she said "Yes go ahead, I didn't realize it was getting so late," She murmured and with a nod I turned to leave. As I did so, I saw the Kheels agreeing with it being late and offering to help with dishes before they left, by which Mom declined nicely.

I was glad to get out of the kitchen and into my own room, I felt like I could finally breathe without choking on the tension in the air. Everyone seemed so worried, not that I myself am not, and they did have reason and everything, but I didn't handle being in there any longer. Get what I mean?

I sat down at my computer, thinking for a moment that I could trace his phone. But then I figured that the police would have already tried that (his father would've, anyway) and instead resigned myself to play Tetris on my computer. After a few minutes I discovered that I couldn't focus on anything properly, thanks to Mello. I didn't even know what to think, it's still the same thing, I barely know him, yet I am so worried, more than I have ever been and it is driving me insane. I had never felt like this before, never, and I couldn't comprehend it. How one stranger could wield so much power over me.

I just wished I could know if Mello is okay.

With another resigned sigh I plugged in my headphones to my laptop and flopped down onto my bed. I closed my eyes and tried to become absorbed into the music, but I only managed to feel a new level of worry, one that somehow blended with anger.

Without opening my eyes I grabbed the earphones and threw them across the room, letting my other hand fall to my face.

Mello came here and not even a day has passed, and I'm absolute mess.

_'What is he doing to me?'_ I wondered inwardly.

* * *

**Author's Note: Review, you know you want to.**


	3. A plan on luck

The morning after Mello ran away wasn't any better.

My parents called some family friends to keep an eye out for him, but I doubted it would help in the slightest. I still had to go to school, and once I was there I immediately wanted to leave (not like I'm usually a fan of school; I always want to leave school, but today more than ever), but I stayed. That day nothing really happened, I went to school, and came back home. I still felt worried about him, and the feeling wouldn't even budge. I drove around with my mother for a few hours and we took a look around, but we didn't find anything of use to us, which was no surprise.

To be honest, if Mello is fine wherever he is, he's going to come back eventually safe and sound. I hardly know him and, again, anything we try to do to get him back would be useless. Mello just knows what he is doing too much for his own good, and even in an unfamiliar city, he obviously understands how to hide well enough. By now the police probably reported him to be missing as well, which meant that he would be trying extra hard to stay hidden if he knew about this new development. But one slip up, even if it's being assaulted in some back alley by a hobo, and he'd be so freaking screwed; which is why we need to find him. But he is just too stubborn, and is most probably hidden away somewhere no one would think about, regardless of whether it be safe or not.

...wow, now that I think about it, I do know the guy quite well, which is scary. I mean, I literally spoke to him about three times, tops. And to think that I've analyzed him and empathized with him to such an extent makes me feel like a creepy stalker. Well, the plus side of my surprising near-stalker detective abilities was that I got a great idea, which I put to action the next day.

I didn't think of doing this before being as distracted by trying to find him as I was, but I just remembered I could easily look up his online accounts. Get more of an idea about his personality when it comes to these things, and if I use the information I get out of that, I can easily find details and use 'em to find him; and that is exactly what I was going to do.

So when the bell rang after the second period to end, I went straight to the computer lab. I didn't want to wait for school to be over so I could do this on my own computer, and settled for the computer lab. I sat down on one of the burgundy chairs and swiftly typed in the computer code, I waited for the computer to boot up. And once it did, I pulled up the search engine and looked up the name Kheel, and what loaded up was pretty interesting.

They were a big family and they owned an agency for detectives (oh, the irony), but for whatever reason Mello's parents didn't get in on the family business, and his father settled for being a police officer. Well, I wouldn't say settled, Eric was apparently a high standing police officer although it is very possible that he had other aspirations.

Then I realized that analyxing Eric wasn't going to be super important in helping me figure out Mello's hideout, so I turned my attention to Mello's online profiles' most of which were pretty hard to find. He only had a few accounts on a few sites and even then he didn't put up much information on them either.

His Facebook page was the one with the most information, and I soon found out what I could use to find him, at least a little bit. I was not able to find out more about his personality like I intended to do, but I did find out that he was from a village called Mace in Preddvor, Slovenia (which I soon found out was completely different from LA). I have to admit, living in a village called Mace sounds super interesting. It also made me wonder why they moved all the way out here, but I dismissed the thought soon and browsed over his other information.

He's seventeen years old, blood type A+ and was born on December the 13th. He was privately schooled in his hometown. His only post was about a kid named Near, that he apparently disliked a lot, and there was only three people on his friends list. His parents and a boy named Jure, I assumed this was a friend from his hometown and I took a quick look at his information, I confirmed their friendship, but found nothing else interesting.

I was about to exit the site deciding that was all I was going to find, when a single post caught my eye. It was an advertisement actually, on the bottom of the screen of his friends page that he had shared. It was advertising a chocolate brand that was on sale a few months ago, 'Green and Blacks chocolate' it read, and I was reminded of the shoplifting in the market place the other day. It was a small spark of something akin to hope as I clicked on the tags, and sure enough Mello was tagged on it.

It made sense, and it was only by chance that I actually paid attention to the post. Mace was a small town, so of course Mello wouldn't go far off, he would want to stay somewhere at least a little familiar. This post advertising chocolate, it made sense that Mello was tagged to it because he most likely likes the brand of chocolate, and then the shoplifting. I felt like I should have made the connection before, but really there was no way I could have.

There is a great chance that he is hiding out somewhere in the marketplace, but where? I couldn't imagine anywhere over there that could be comfortable to stay in the least.

I felt better now, I had an idea now of where he was, and decided I could go there right after school is out, even if he isn't, it is my only lead.

Almost right after I left the computer lab, the bell rang for next period and I found Beyond looking for me.

"Hey! Where did you go?" He questioned, irritation etched on his face as he walked over to me.

"I was doing some homework in the computer lab, why?" I responded, placing my attention on the dissatisfied teen.

"I just wanted to talk to you," He huffed.

"Okay, what about?" I asked, genuinely confused.

He shook his head exasperatedly, "You've looked like the walking dead for the past two days, I want to know why." he stated.

"Oh," I mumbled in realization, as I just remembered that I hadn't slept all that well in the last two nights no matter how hard I tried, thanks to Mello, and I probably did look terrible right now. Now that I was reminded of it, I felt really quite exhausted.

"It's nothing, just had a bad sleep," I supplied, trying to convince him, but I don't think he bought it because he just stared at me with a disbelieving look on his face. He all but said something along the lines of: 'you are lying to me, I know you are'.

"What are you hiding from me? You're not...doing drugs or anything right?" He asked half jokingly, but his concern was quite obvious in his tone.

"No, no," I reassured him with a little laugh, "Just family stuff...well, someone went missing." I only lied partially.

"Who?" He asked as he cocked his head.

Uh oh, this is where it gets tricky.

I was about to brush him off as I walked towards my locker and grabbed my books, but stopped mid breath and turned back to him. I mean, Beyond deserved know the truth.

"You remember that guy Mello?" I asked him while sorting out which books I needed, not caring much if I was late for class.

"Him?" He questioned curiously.

"Yeah, he ran away," I nodded.

"Okay," he drawled, "And exactly why are you so concerned about him?"

Dammit, did he have to be so perceptive when it comes to stuff like this? I totally regret thinking that he deserved to know. Bastard, he just has to be too sharp right now.

"I don't know. Anyway, come on. We are really late for class now," I diverted the conversation because I knew it was edging into the danger zone, but I didn't know why it was dangerous.

"Huh." Was his only response as he indeed followed me into the classroom.

I heard him mutter something under his breath and couldn't help but think it was something along the lines of out conversation from the day before conversation, but I convinced myself it was just my imagination as I sat onto my desk, ignoring the teacher scolding me and Beyond for being late.

English was not my favorite subject; not because I wasn't good at it, but because it was so easy, not to mention boring. Especially with Mello on my mind and the fact that I just wanted to go find him right now, English just seemed like a waste of time. I already knew what we were learning. Seriously, they literally just taught us this stuff last year, did they really think we forgot what we are doing? I know how to write poems thank you very much.

With a resigned sigh I hurried my assignment along, and waited impatiently for the school day to be over.

When the bell rang for the last class of the day, I repeated my past actions and tossed my books carelessly in my locker as I headed out, only to be stopped by my English teacher, Ms. Hampton.

"Yeah?" I asked, clueless to as why she was stopping me.

"You were late for class by five minutes," She said sternly. "Don't think you can get away with that, Mail."

Way to sound like an overly clichéd antagonist, Ms. H.

"Um," I gave as a reply. All I really wanted was to just get going, the sooner the better. If she made me stay for detention, I wouldn't have much time to search for Mello.

"Detention in my classroom, for one hour. Now." She said, brooking no arguments, her hands akimbo.

"I can't! I...I have things to do" I argued. I swear, I will even stay in detention for two hours tomorrow. I just wanted to get going ASAP.

"Not anymore you don't. If you don't go now I will make it an hour and a half."

I sighed in frustration, not wanting to get into trouble with my parents if I simply left now, "Let's get this over with," I grumbled, and promptly started walking back to the English classroom.

Ms. Hampton followed closely behind me as I entered the room, and gestured for me to sit down at a desk. I complied reluctantly, and sat down in the desk as she took her own place at the front of the classroom. A few minutes passed without a word, when I realized Beyond was late for class also, yet he wasn't in here for detention.

"Why isn't Beyond here? He was late too" I spoke up, frustrated. Knowing her she just wanted to pick on me. Gosh.

She looked up at me from some papers, an odd expression on her face as she responded, "That is none of your business" she deadpanned, and I immediately realized what happened, causing me to break out into laughter. Like, my bad mood nearly completely lifted, thanks to Beyond.

"Be quiet!" She snarled, irritation crossing her features. I only continued laughing harder. I should have known Beyond would pull something. I have known him to be absurdly rebellious when it comes to authority.

"What did he do?" I snickered, watching her face to go red with embarrassment.

"I told you to be quiet. Do you want me to tack on that extra half an hour?" She asked through gritted teeth.

I reluctantly stopped laughing (externally), but still wondered what he would have done. I was definitely going to ask him about it later. Beyond had a reputation for making pranks, some not so pleasant, and I would bet money that he only threatened her. But the look on her face showed that, whatever he said, she wanted to avoid it happening. I laughed quietly at that thought for a brief moment.

She gave me one last glare before settling down with her papers again, as I just gave her an amused smirk. It really was funny how Beyond could control the teachers in this school. From what I understand, Beyond's parents don't really care what he does in school. So whenever the teachers call his home to complain about him, his parents say they will talk to him, but they never do. So in a way Beyond has no limits for the amount of trouble he cause.

I shuffled around in my desk to get into a more comfortable position to pass the hour in, and I soon felt a frown begin to form on my face as I began to think about Mello again. I needed to find him, and this stupid detention was wasting my time.

Instead of thinking about being stuck in detention, I tried to think of exactly where Mello could be. The marketplace really didn't have that many places to stay, and there is still a chance that he isn't even there. But it seemed very liable, and it only made sense. I thought for a moment that maybe I should tell the Kheels about where I think he is, but decided against it. There would be a lesser chance of him running away from me, than him running away from his parents. If I were him, I wouldn't want to be found by my parents. I would be less worried about a kid my age finding me. Also, he doesn't really know me, so there is more room for him to trust me. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, and I am being an idiot, but I think he mainly doesn't want to see his parents.

Now what do I do when I actually find him? Convince him to come back? I don't really know him, so he might listen to me, but if he doesn't for that same reason? I will just have to try my best to come to an agreement with him, I decided.

On the other hand, why do I care so much about him? I still can't figure it out. If you haven't figured it yet (and you'll have to possess a remarkable amount of stupidity for that), I am not a generally caring person to those that I hardly know. Hell, I am not exactly the paragon of caring to people I do know. So why this concern for someone like Mello? The guy was truly an ass; yet here I am, worried about him, and I don't understand why. If I was what they call a hopeless romantic, I would call it fate, and that we are soulmates, but I have never believed in those things. So it does confuse me greatly, why did I all of a sudden find myself attracted to Mello? I am sure time will tell, but I am impatient, and I want to know now. Maybe it's just a clichéd case of me finding the asshole super attractive or something equally as dumb.

I remembered a psychology class I had when I was fifteen, that one day we researched sexuality. I was not really interested in it, but I do remember something from it; it was mentioned briefly and I am surprised I can still recall it, but a student brought up the topic of demisexual people, people who only have a sexual attraction to someone they are close to, or on a mentally similar level. That doesn't explain much about my situation, but maybe I could do some research on the topic. I just want an explanation that even vaguely applies to this situation, anything to put my mind at ease at this point, really.

"The hour's up," Said the bored voice of the teacher, jolting me out of my thoughts. I looked up at the clock and sure enough, an hour had passed, I was surprised that it seemed to pass so quickly but stood up from my desk anyways. Who am I to waffle away the time that I could spend more productively (I can't believe I just said that)?

Without a response and a dismissive wave instead, I left the classroom and soon I was walking down the street towards the marketplace, glad to be on my way.

I walked passed a bubbly group of girls chatting amongst themselves as I entered the marketplace. It was the same as usual here, people at all the shops talking with other people. Sometimes small arguments breaking out here and there, and in other points you had some groups of kids laughing at a joke. I have lived here all my life so it was very familiar to me. But today I intended to find Mello, and I decided I would drag him out of here if I had to.

I began to walk idly around, passing a few clothing stores, a bakery and some more shops. Soon making my way to where the chocolate shop from yesterday was, noticing that it was closed right now and was immediately disappointed, if it was open Mello might have been around. I decided to see if it would be open anytime soon, and walked over to the small shop, where I looked at the hours.

'Tuesday: 9:00m-4:00pm', The brightly colored sign read.

Great. It just closed, I thought dejectedly and with a light huff continued down the pathway. Thanks for that, Ms. Hampton. I hope karma kicks you when you least expect it.

I paid most of my attention to all of the areas that were scantily populated, any areas that went behind shops or anything of the sort, but I saw no signs of Mello. This causing me to feel downtrot again, like I was actually wrong, and I was completely on the wrong path here.

Eventually I stopped at one of the more fancy clothing and shoe stores, something catching my eyes. It wasn't Mello, but a pair of black combat boots that I, even being a person who doesn't like fashion that much, would have like to own.

But I was soon disrupted from admiring the attire when a heavy weight knocked into me, sending me off balance, and knocking the breath out of me as I fell on my back.

When I looked up I was met with a pair of steely blue eyes, and it only took me a second to read the situation when I saw a bag in Mello's hand and a small group of police running towards us. I didn't think when I grabbed Mello's hand and pulled him into a small alleyway behind the shops, and ignored Mello's startled exclamation of shock and confusion as I led us out of the police officer's line of sight.


	4. In the rain, we agree

I knew LA off the back of my hand, and I mean that literally. Unlike the average person living here who just knew their surrounding areas, I could go to the opposite end of the city and know my way around perfectly. So from where we were, we had two ways to outrun the officers. The market is a place with little to no hiding places, but thankfully there were a lot of people around, especially at this time of day.

So I quickly made the decision and bolted down an alley while I was still dragging Mello, whose resistance to being dragged someplace he didn't even know, was almost gone. Maybe the fact that there were cops on his ass and I was the only one who could lead him out of this mess had something to do with that. Anyway, the alley I chose only extended behind about seven shops and would hit a dead end after the seventh. So, what many people (even from around here) didn't know is that there is a back door to a small bakery that is left unlocked 80% of the time. There was a reason I began with a note about my amazing ability to maneuvre LA like a boss. Well, it IS risky, not to mention very disruptive to run through a bakery with cops chasing behind you; but that is the point.

It's unexpected. And cops don't expect kids like me or Mello to pull these kinds of calculated stunts. What can I say; I'm just amazingly intelligent like that.

The group of officers were only five paces behind us by the time we reached the door, luckily Mello finally seemed to completely accept letting me lead us. Though when I slowed down by the door, it looked as if Mello was going to say something, not understanding why I would slow down here. I could see nervousness in his eyes and his whole body tense up, as I noticed him glancing from the cops to the end of the street frantically.

I had stopped right beside the door, and luckily it opened outwards into the direction of the cops. Mello gave me a confused look, wondering why we stopped and I could feel him ready to bolt as the cops neared us, only a few meters away from the door. I was still holding his hand and kept it firm, silently willing him not to run.

When the cops were right in the spot that I wanted them in, I grabbed the handle and slammed it open, right onto them. I heard one of them curse as I pulled us into the bakery and rushed into the front of the store. I risked a glance backwards and was satisfied that the group were not in sight, noting that I probably gave that unlucky cop quite a bad bloody nose, which I almost regretted. Almost.

We ran into the diner area of the shop, surprising the costumers and workers alike, and jumped over a counter as we raced out of the shop, leaving behind all those people who were probably scratching their heads and trying to figure out exactly what they'd witnessed. By now Mello knew that I knew what I was doing and ran in sync with me through the crowds. We were seriously winded up when we reached a small red awning facing away from the store, where we quickly took cover behind.

I didn't say anything as we sat down there, and took a moment to catch our breath, listening intently for the officers and if they noticed where we went. I heard a few shouts drowned out by the crowd and noticed Mello heard them to, but they soon disappeared and we both relaxed, leaning against the wooden wall. The adrenaline rush crashed and I started feeling the strain of running like that, after having never exercised in who knows how long.

"Well, that was fun," I said once I felt my breathing gradually go back to its normal rate, but my heart still beating out of my chest at a frantic pace. Well, I am but a sedentary creature.

"Yes, the best fun I have had in years," He scoffed mockingly.

What is this dude's problem? More than that, what the hell is MY problem? I stuck my neck out for this jerk and he didn't even ask me to. Seriously, I really worry about myself sometimes.

Well, I just stayed silent, not sure what to say in response. What do I say anyway? That I strangely care (a lot more than I am comfortable with) about him enough to help him outrun the cops at my own risk right after he crashed into me unwittingly while running away from said cops? To be fair to myself, I do think I did us all a good turn; although I'd pulled off this ludicrous escape instinctively, if I'd let them catch Mello it would have been a huge hassle with papers and documents and we would end up home late, with an angered and humiliated Mello. And on any average day (according to my estimate), Mello acted more pissed off than a PMSing girl. So me finding him and bringing him home without the police involved would be more discreet, less public, less humiliating, and simply less of a hassle.

I noticed the sky growing grey and just realized that in my hurry to get us away from the cops, I'd totally forgotten that there was a very strong chance that it would begin raining heavily real soon, and we were most likely going to be stuck here until the rain subsides.

"Well," I sighed after a minute or two of silence.

Mello looked at me, a flash of anger in his eyes as he responded to my weak attempt of getting him to speak.

"You want me to come back, don't you?"

'What gave it away, genius?' I thought irritably. Sitting in this cramped fashion with the sky looking like it was going to hurl water on us any moment now, wasn't improving my mood one bit.

"If you will" I decided on.

"I won't." He said firmly, irritation prominent his features. Which wasn't all that surprising, it was probably his resting face or something.

Still, I'm going to make him come back with me, even if it meant that he had stay at my house hidden for awhile. It would do no harm. I just don't want him on the streets. A few drops of rain splashed onto the ground in front of us, along with the sound of thunder signaling the start of the downpour.

I turned to face him just then, and I saw him frowning at the ground intently, like it owed him heavy cash. His face was still flushed from our running spree and his hair was messed up like crazy. He was wearing his leather from the other nights' supper and probably hasn't had a bath since then. Despite that little voice in my head commenting on how gross that was, I could feel a pressure in my stomach, and a tingly feeling all over my body as I took in the sight of him. Even though he looked like an utter mess, I was still enamoured by his looks, and even his personality attracted me somewhat. For some godforsaken reason I couldn't begin to understand; and this was only my second time meeting him, minus our chat on Omegle.

"Why did you run away?" I questioned suddenly, though I doubted he would give an answer.

"Why should I tell you?" He snapped shortly as the rain started to fall at a quicker pace.

"Calm down," I drawled and pointed to the rain now falling steadily and causing a slight mist as it hit the ground, "Looks like we're stuck here for awhile."

"No shit, Sherlock." He mumbled.

"Uhuh," was my only response to his, rather unoriginal, comeback.

And now that we were stuck here I had no idea what to say. It was going to be a VERY difficult task to convince him to come back with me and he clearly doesn't want to speak to me, Leaving me in an awkward position. Luckily this rainfall would keep him here, that was the only thing I had going for me right then. Still, I had no clue how to approach him, he doesn't trust easily, that is for sure. I needed to find a chink in his armor, something that'll thaw his glacier-like coldness towards me.

"Why 'Mello'?" I asked him, in the hopes of starting a conversation; but it felt like a lost cause at this point.

"It was a nickname my friend gave me, so I kept it." He answered as he leaned over his bag to pull out a water bottle. This really surprised me, first because he figured out what that out-of-context question meant and second, because he answered the damn question instead of clamming up after telling me to shove off.

"I see," I responded as I watched him unscrew the cap of the water bottle and drink half of it greedily, reminding me of how thirsty I was.

"Can I have some?" I asked him, nodding to the water bottle.

To my honest disappointment he responded shortly with a "No." and stuffed it back in his bag.

"Well then," I huffed halfheartedly, and I saw him narrow his eyes as if he was thinking of something, or realized something important, before he asked me an only slightly unexpected question.

"Were you trying to find me?"

"What if I was?" I countered.

He turned his gaze to me and stared harshly "Why would you be looking for someone you hardly know?"

"Who said I was looking for you?" I said as I waved him off.

"You were here for three hours two days ago, yet you didn't buy anything."

"You saw me?" I asked, quite a bit surprised that he would have been paying attention.

"I did," he huffed.

"Oh!" I smirked in realization, He HAD stolen from that chocolate shop that day, so he probably was around that area for a while hiding out. It was kind of funny that I thought staring at the sweet shop was a waste of time, when he was the one who stole from it and saw me searching for him right there. Though if I knew he apparently liked chocolate I would have figured it out...

I noticed Mello suppress a shiver as he rubbed his arms and immediately felt guilty. Here I was with a long sleeve shirt and a jacket, while Mello who is already thin, only had his leather top and pants, leaving his arms to the cold, as well as leather not being very insulating.

"Do you want my jacket?" I asked him, ready to take it off and hand it over.

"No," He responded curtly and removed his hand from his arm.

Even with his refusal of the offer I knew he was cold, as another shiver ran through him, so I unzipped my vest and pulled it off of my shoulders to hand it to him.

"I said I didn't want it," He growled, avoiding eye contact.

"I don't care, take it." I told him firmly, seconds before I forcefully shoved it into his arms.

He only grumbled something I couldn't hear and put it on despite his earlier protests, his shivering subsiding a little as he zipped up the garment and seemed to huddle in on himself for warmth. He looked smaller than he usually did when he put my jacket on his slim frame, and because of the way he was huddled into himself that way.

We sat for a little while in silence and it was a little bit uncomfortable, but it wasn't half as awkward as before. By now Mello seemed to have warmed up, even though he still shivered lightly. Eventually I broke the silence.

"If you don't want to see your parents, you can come and stay at my house for a while." I offered lightly.

"I said I didn't want to come back." He repeated his earlier words irritably.

"Why not?" I asked, growing a little irritated as well at his refusal.

"Because I just don't, I am fine out here and I don't see a problem, so why don't you just leave me alone?" He asked angrily.

"Because this isn't a small town Mello, there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't think twice about assaulting a lone teenager on the run, even if this is a pretty safe part of LA." I explained to him, my voice rising a little. Even my mysterious attraction to him was only going to keep me silent for so long.

"I can take care of myself." He shot back.

"And so can I, but we still worry!"

He looked slightly confused, "Who's we?"

"You're an idiot! Your parents, my parents, me, we are all worried about you"

His expression turned into a scowl "My parents don't care so why should I care?"

"Well if you think they don't, which they do by the way, a lot; then at least I care!" I blurted out frustratedly, my irritation growing so much that I didn't think before I said what I said.

He looked mildly taken aback at my words, and irritated at the same time "Why would someone I hardly know care about me?" He spat, as a flash of lighting erupted from the sky, lighting up his face and for just a brief second.

"I-I don't know," I faltered, suddenly feeling very awkward after I blurted that out like that. It was true that I was a stranger to him, so why should I care about him? Someone that I haven't known for more than three days, and have only spent about three hours around. Why do I care about him so much?

"Hmph, see? You don't care, you're just a liar! You only want me to come back so you can get away from whatever drama is going on in your own life!" He hissed, his voice barely concealing his rage. And I then realized that in his past he had been used, possibly abandoned, neglected, and made to feel inferior from his family and he never got over it. His family may not have done it intentionally but they still made him unable trust anybody. Perhaps they simply couldn't handle him and either pushed him away or suppressed him. Perhaps never let him be truly who he is, that is why he doesn't want to see them. He feels inferior.

After I had this moment of epiphany, I had no clue what to say. I only stared at him, not saying anything. He glared back at me balefully and I understood him now, at least to an extent, and it led me to believe that beneath all that disdain and hate and anti-socialness, he was afraid of being betrayed again; he is almost broken in a sense.

"What?" He questioned furiously when he noticed that I was thinking about something. I couldn't help but think that if he knew I was analyzing him in this way, he would probably kill me.

I righted myself and purposefully spoke, "I don't care what you think, I won't force you to see your family, but I will force you to come back, and yes, I care about you for a reason I don't understand." I said it all in one breath and took a quick pause before I continued "Let's wait for the rain to die down, then we can go to my place. My Dad is at work and my Mom is at her support group so they won't see you when we arrive, okay?"

"I said I won't go," He replied, but his face showed he was still taken aback by my sudden confidence and he was relenting, if only a little.

"And I don't care," I repeated firmly.

He huffed and leaned back on his seat, I could almost see his mind's gears turning as he was weighing the pros and cons of coming back with me, as if he were flipping around a photograph and picking out every detail one by one on each side. I waited patiently for his decision, though I was eager for him to respond. I had taken such an interest in him then, maybe it was his personality, maybe it was his feelings, maybe it actually was fate... something I'd always made a point of not believing in. But the thought of how unlikely it is to meet someone in such a way, and the fact that he stirred so many feelings in me that I had never even dreamt of feeling before, I was starting to doubt my own beliefs.

Mello seemed to be like a code, a code that I wanted to learn to decrypt; because I couldn't make heads or tails of what I was feeling towards him and I needed to understand.

"Alright," He responded unsurely, as he turned to look at me.

"You'll come back with me?" I asked. I didn't want to push him, but I felt so satisfied and I couldn't believe my ears. I honestly thought it would take more than that for him to agree.

"What did I just say?!" He snapped at me.

I pulled up my hands in a sign of surrender.

"Just making sure," I said, trying not to set him off any further.

His expression was a mixture of irritation and amusement as he rested his head back on the wall of the awning.

"It looks like the rain is finally letting up," He mumbled.

I looked at the street and sure enough the rain was falling slower, and the sun was just starting to peak out from behind the clouds, leaving the scent of fresh rainwater as the falling of drops were slowly receding. I nodded as I gazed at the waterlogged street with a sense of contentment. I took a quick glance at Mello and noticed that he too was looking at the street, but for him his expression resided more on the side of nostalgia and once again I wondered about his hometown, it was such a different place from here; from what I knew.

After a minute of silence the rain stopped fully and I stood up. "Looks like we can head out," I spoke calmly and offered him my hand. He only nodded and stood up, blatantly ignoring the gesture.

I shrugged, pulled back my hand, and led the way out of the marketplace at a steady pace, with Mello just behind me.

We walked a few minutes in silence, for me I just didn't have anything to say, but for Mello he seemed conflicted about something. It was when we were about halfway home that he suddenly stopped and I had to turn around and give him a questioning look. For a second I thought maybe he had changed his mind about coming with me.

"Do you like me or something?" He asked.

I gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

He only shook his head and continued walking, so I followed behind him and it took a few minutes until I realized what he meant, and an unfamiliar warmth rose to my cheeks, but I didn't say anything. I was too busy processing what he said, and trying to hide the fact that I was blushing, something that I had never done before.

We continued along the watered down street, the sun reflected off the road, making it seem shiny. I would have enjoyed the change of weather if it wasn't for my burning cheeks and it wasn't like I could blame it on the cold either.

We arrived at my house shortly and I unlocked the door easily, letting Mello inside and entering after him, closing the door behind myself. I took off my shoes and set them on the shoe rack whereas Mello only tossed his boots halfheartedly on the floor, not that I cared much.

"Do you want to take a shower?" I questioned when we stepped into the kitchen, eyeing his mussed up hair and more-than-slightly grimy appearance.

"Only if you have clean clothes I can wear," He replied with a cocky smirk.

I briefly wondered if he had a slight bipolar disorder, judging by the way his mood changed from angry to cocky to thoughtful in a matter of seconds, but pushed the thought aside.

"I will find you some. You can use the shower in my bedroom. It's up the stairs, third room to your right."

He nodded and made his way up the stairs to my room, leaving me stood there for a moment, before I realized I had to do some things to make his stay here discreet, and picked up his bag along with his boots, before heading up the stairs as well.

I cleaned the mud off of his boots and put them beside my bed with his bag, found some clean clothes that I put in the bathroom discreetly, tidied my room a little and found a sleeping bag with a pillow, and then I settled down in front of my computer to play Runescape.

After playing for who knows how long, I started to wonder if Mello had fallen asleep in the shower. And, after a quick glance towards my clock I realized that indeed an hour and a half had passed, the whole time I was playing Runecsape contentedly. Then I heard the water shut off and after a few moments, Mello came out of the bathroom smelling like peppermint shampoo. He was wearing the navy blue button-up shirt and black skinny jeans that I gave him, and had a fluffy white towel draped over his head catching drops of water that he hadn't bothered to wipe off before coming out. He lazily flopped onto my bed, seemingly forgetting about my presence as he dried his hair.

"Enjoy your shower?" I said with a small grin on my face, one that he couldn't see as I continued playing my game.

"Shut up," He retaliated irritably

"Right, are you hungry?" I offered.

"Not really, where'd you put my chocolate though?"

"You mean the stuff you stole? It's beside my bed." I said, snickering slightly.

"Good," He responded, as he got up and went over to his bag, where he pulled out a Hershey's bar, unwrapped it and sat back down on my bed.

When I heard a snap I was slightly startled before I realized that it was just him biting off pieces of chocolate. I stayed quiet and didn't bother commenting on the obnoxious snaps, even though it bothered me immensely and soon enough, the snaps blended into the background, and I beat a high level player on Runescape.

A few minutes later, I became slightly aware of him looking around my room, checking out books from my bookshelf, and peeking into my drawers. I realized that he was trying to provoke me when I caught sight of his smirk in the reflection of my window, though I didn't actually care. I didn't have anything to hide, apart from my wallet that had my ID in it. I tried to recall where I'd left it, prying my mind for the answer when I realized it was in the pocket of my vest. I turned around my chair.

"Hey, did you leave the clothes that you were wearing before in the bathroom?" I asked. Really I was only a bit concerned, if not at all.

He looked over at me from his place by the bookshelf, and said indifferently, "Yeah, they're still in there."

I nodded and stood up "Okay, I will put them in the wash." I spoke as I walked into the bathroom.

Sure it probably wouldn't be bad if he found out I was the guy from his chat on Omegle, but the way he acts in general is spontaneous at best, so I don't want to risk it. I thought over my reasoning for keeping it a secret as I pulled my wallet out of my vest, put it in my pants pocket and collected the clothing to wash them.

I put them in my laundry basket and picked it up before heading downstairs to the laundry room, where I tossed the clothing in the washer and adjusted the setting to delicate before clicking the start button.

As I exited the laundry room, I heard Mom enter the house; and with a quick glance to the clock in the laundry room I saw that it was already 6:00pm. I was mildly surprised how quickly the time passed, but otherwise didn't think much of it as I went to the kitchen to greet my Mother.

"Hey Matt, how are you doing?" She greeted me with a smile as soon as I entered her line of view.

"I'm okay," I said blandly, keeping in mind that to her Mello is still missing as far as she knows, and I had to act a little downbeat.

She gave me an understanding smile, "I bought pizza because I came back so late," she said as she pulled out two boxes from a bag on the counter along with some plates from the cupboard and set them on the table.

"Sounds good," I responded simply and went to open the first box. I grabbed three slices and put them on my plate, two for Mello and one for me. "Dad's not going to be home tonight?" I asked curiously.

She shook her head and sat down at the table "He has to stay in the office for the night to catch up on paperwork" She spoke regretfully.

"Huh. Hey, Mom, can I eat this upstairs?" I pointed to the plate.

"Why?" She asked me, confused at the odd request.

"I was going to cram for a test tonight," I shrugged. I generally used that as an excuse to do other stuff, as I rarely, or rather never, had homework.

"Oh yeah, sure, honey. Go ahead, I'm gonna go to bed early, so goodnight." She spoke, and only then did I take in her tired appearance. I knew it was to be expected, she usually went through a tough spot every few months.

"Goodnight, feel better in the morning," I told her with a smile, and She gave me tired one in return and left, so I headed up the stairs, and back to my room.

I opened my door to find Mello with his nose in a criminology book, still lying on my bed and intently observing each word on each page, he didn't acknowledge me as I entered, so I spoke up.

"I gave you the sleeping bag for a reason, you know?"

"I will take the bed," He stated, not taking his eyes off of the pages.

"Then you're going to have to share a bed with me because I sure as hell am not sleeping on the floor." I retaliated, in the hopes that he would give up and sleep on the floor.

He sat up "That's fine, is that pizza?" He asked, while eyeing the plate.

"Yeah, here you go," I handed him the plate as I took one slice for myself, slightly irritated that he was so persistent on sleeping in the bed.

He nodded and took the plate, then proceeded to lie back down, reading the book while nibbling on a piece of pizza slowly. I only sighed and sat back down by my computer, where I ate my single slice. Now he was just annoying me, and I was not to keen on sleeping on the floor, nor sleeping in the same bed with him even though I had a king sized bed.

Mello seemed content reading books for the rest of the evening, just as I was content playing miscellaneous games on the computer, so the arrangement worked fine for me. While playing my games, I was also contemplating about Mello. He was just strange, or rather, different. For example, it seems like he hates his family, yet the books that he was devouring with his eyes were all criminology and law books. I would have thought that his hatred of his family would also mean he hated the family business, but either he pressured himself into doing it because of standards, or he was actually driven to become a detective. Either way, I was curious. I couldn't figure him out, his personality, his likes, his obsessions (everyone has them, whether they admit it or not) and most of all, why I felt the way I did with him. It confused me, but I found everything about him endearing in a way.

I soon realized it was 10:38 pm, and remembering I had school tomorrow I decided to go to sleep, though I was apprehensive about how well I would be able to sleep with Mello in my bed, let alone in the room.

"Do you want to go to sleep now?" I asked him from my computer desk, as I quit playing Gemini.

He glanced up from his book and at the clock on my desk, before he nodded.

"Sure," He said nonchalantly, and then he closed the book and set it on the end table beside my bed.

I nodded and stood up from my chair to walk over to my dresser, where I grabbed two pairs of pajama pants and tossed one pair at him. "You can wear these," I mumbled as I undressed and slipped into my own Mario themed pajama pants.

Mello put on the pants without a response and tiredly flopped on the bed, where he slid under the covers, "I'm still sleeping on the bed," he mumbled tiredly as his eyes closed.

I took note of how being out on the streets those few nights probably drained him, as he didn't sound snarky when he said it and his voice was more on the smooth side. I liked that voice, and kind of wanted to hear more of it. I turned off the bedroom light and crawled in the other side of the bed, pulling the blankets over myself as I snuggled into the soft black sheets. I still felt awkward sleeping in the same bed as Mello, and if he wasn't so tired, I reckon he would have probably kicked me out with more effort.

But then again, Mello sure wasn't tired when he first declared himself sleeping in my bed, so what does that mean? He doesn't seem like the type to be comfortable sleeping around another person; he would most likely consider it a weakness, letting another person see him vulnerable. But then, he doesn't seem like the type to accept anything from anybody, food, stay, clothes, I don't really know him, but I feel like he should have given me a harder time. Could it be that he feels comfortable around me for some reason?

To my surprise I found falling asleep, even with Mello in the room, was easy and I was almost more comfortable as I listened to his steady breathing, lulling me to sleep.


	5. Game, punch, trouble

Warmth.

Too warm. I felt like I was suffocating.

What the hell?

I tried to move but it felt like a weight was holding me down. My leg had fallen asleep and was now awakening or whatever, and the uncomfortable tingling sensation just made me want to move away from it all. But I couldn't. I was on my bed, there shouldn't have been anything holding me down.

Perhaps this was a dream?

I cracked my eyes open, trying to wake up, and saw flaxen cotton candy. What even? I mean, that's an awesome vision to wake up to, but shouldn't it be lightweight? And I couldn't smell any cotton candy either.

And that's when the events of yesterday flooded back to me.

That was Mello.

I could feel his chest rising and falling against mine. He was lying right on top of me. I further opened my eyes lazily and blinked sleep away, my vision clearing quickly. He was lying flat on my chest with his head buried into my shoulder, and his legs in between mine with his arms wrapped around my waist awkwardly and it took me a moment to fully process the situation. And as soon as I did, my face heated up as I realized how pressed up against each other we were, leaving literally no room between us. No wonder I feel so hot (well, I am quite the handsome hunk too; but we can talk about that later), he must have cuddled up with me in my sleep.

Wow, I never expected him to be the cuddling type. I guess I expected him to be the kind that hogged all the blankets and kicked everyone off the bed or some shit.

I was about to try an push him off of me when he shifted on top of me with a sigh of contentment, and I realized he was going to wake up.

"U-uh, Mello?" I whispered uneasily.

He grumbled something inaudible in response, most likely not realizing he is sleeping in my bed yet. I didn't want him to wake up, his reaction to the fact that he twined himself around me like were a rope of Twizzlers in the middle of the night would probably end up with him punching me in the face and plotting my demise, even though I'm the victim. But the chance that he would fall back asleep and get off of me is super low.

"Mello?" I spoke a little bit louder this time, deciding to wake him up.

His breathing changed quickly as he became more awake, and rolled off of me just slightly as he opened his eyes.

"What?" He mumbled lightly, still blinking sleep out of his eyes, though I could see confusion on his expression.

"Nothing," I mumbled and sat up before he said anything else about what just happened, or noticed my cherry red face. I stood up awkwardly and walked hurriedly into the bathroom, leaving no time for him to say anything else. Once I closed the door behind myself I took a quick glance in the mirror, before deciding on a shower.

I leaned down and turned on the taps, adjusted the temperature and turned on the shower head. Then I quickly undressed and piled my clothes in a corner of the floor, I hadn't finished the load of laundry from last night so I didn't have a basket like I usually would, but I didn't care all the much. I stepped under the cool spray of water and sighed as my body temperature adjusted to the water; though, much to my disdain, the water couldn't cool off the temperature of my cheeks. Which meant I still looked like a cherry wannabe.

You know what? I'm just going to pretend like I had a nice, hot shower which left my cheeks so red. There.

Unlike Mello, I didn't take long showers. Actually, I didn't take showers often. Only if I am going to a meeting or dinner, aside from that I tend to settle for a shower once a week. Well, yeah, it is unhygienic; but if you think about it, I don't exercise much, so it's not like I need to shower often anyway. I picked up a bottle of cinnamon shampoo and squirted some into my hands before lathering my hair, running my fingers through my mousey brown locks and lightly scrubbing them clean. When I was satisfied I let the water rinse my hair of the sharp scented bubbles, and lazily washed the rest of my body. I made sure I was fully rinsed off before shutting off the taps and grabbing a towel, and proceeded to dry myself off.

I pulled on a pair of baggy jeans and and a red and black striped t-shirt and then I exited the bathroom. I didn't check the time when I went into the shower so I hoped it wasn't too late, considering the fact that I still had to go to school.

I felt heat rise to my cheeks again when I saw Mello sitting on the bed shirtless. He was sitting with his legs crossed and I guess he caught on to what exactly he'd done because his face expressed something more like a mix of embarrassment and anger instead of sleep-mussed confusion. The good thing is, he hasn't leapt of the bed and cold-bloodedly strangled me (yet).

I avoided his gaze and walked across the room towards my phone that lay on my computer desk. I couldn't help but think that this was exactly like some cheesy soap opera where characters are really awkward around each other in the morning after a one-night stand. Only, this wasn't a one-night stand, this was just an awkward situation that I was put into with this guy I hardly know and, it wasn't even my fault. Yet I can feel Mello glaring holes into my back as I picked up my phone. 'As if it were my fault,' I thought resignedly.

I picked up my phone and looked the time. It was 6:29am.

School starts at 7:30am for me, and I usually arrive just as the school bell rings for class. Normally I would be frustrated to wake up at this hour, but this time it was all good, considering the fact that my mom wakes up at 7:00am. Ugh, just imagining what would've happened if I'd overslept and she walked in on me and Mello in that extremely compromising position makes me shiver. This timing would give me time to smuggle Mello out of here. I am pretty sure he would not be happy to be stuck in my room all day.

What was I going to do with him though? I need to get him to go back home for obvious reasons, but I doubt I will be able to convince him to do so, considering his opinion of his parents. I can't let him get mad at me for trying to get him to go home. I wasn't stupid, if I try to get him to do so he will say that I just want him out of my way. But it is only a matter of time before my parents notice him staying here.

So what do I do?

Not just that, he is a runaway, there is that little fact about it being illegal to house runaways (it's not like I'm a stickler for rules, but this is a big one to flout) and where would he stay while I am at school? Actually, I'll let him figure that out, as long as he doesn't get himself, or me, into any trouble like yesterday, and I doubt he'd do that. So, he should be fine by himself. It is not really like I should care anyway, though I do...

I turned around to face Mello, trying hard not to let the awkward air in the room faze me.

"I have school, so you'll have to go out somewhere for the day until I'm out," I said, my voice more nervous sounding than I intended it to be.

"Where am I supposed to go?" He questioned, annoyed.

Why is he being so difficult first thing in the morning?!

"You don't have anywhere to hide out for the day?" I questioned him, trying to be composed around him. Thankfully, I liked him a bit too much to actually feel any anger towards him.

He shrugged. "Nope. Also, shouldn't you get my clothes out of the wash before your mom finds them?"

Smartass.

"Oh, yeah." I said dumbly, I had forgotten about the clothes that I put in last night for a moment. "I can still get them," I righted myself, "But you can't exactly stay here all day, my Mom cleans my room and she would find you..." I trailed off, edging him to speak.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I will figure something out, but I can't hang out in town anywhere," he spoke dismissively.

I frowned "I don't think..." I don't think it would work, and it wouldn't be good if my Mom found Mello in my room, in fact she might think that he has been here the whole time. But if he doesn't have anywhere to stay for the day, I guess he could hide in my room if my Mother is coming, under the bed, shower, closet, maybe computer desk? Mello is smart, so I think he could pull it off. More so than I could anyway...

"Alright." I nodded, changing my mind.

Mello only nodded in response and lay back down on top of the blankets, with the same criminology book from last night that he had left on the bedside table, and he began reading from where he left off, ignoring me completely.

I exited the room silently, being careful not to wake my Mother and headed for the laundry room, rejoicing at the fact that I was out of Mello's presence. I still felt awkward from my abrupt awakening this morning and decided I would go to school early, after telling my Mom so that she has less reason to go into my room of course.

I collected the laundry from the machine and headed back upstairs quickly with the basket of clean clothes, entering the room again and putting the laundry basket beside the bed before I found my jeans from yesterday and took my ID card out of the pocket, grabbed my bag and headed for the door again. Before I exited again I spoke. "You will need to put your clothes on before my mom comes in here, okay?"

He didn't acknowledge me even a bit. Dude's got a load of bad attitude, I tell you. I just sighed and got out of there.

"School doesn't start for another hour," I heard him state just as I was about to close the door.

"I have to go early to finish a project," I lied weakly, as I shut the door, not wanting him to know I felt uncomfortable around him at the moment.

He didn't respond to that. I felt like he knew my excuse was just that, but didn't dwell on it. I walked down the hall towards my Mother's bedroom and knocked on the door, it opened in a few seconds so I guess she was doing her makeup or something of the sort. She gave me a questioning look at the fact that I was at her door this early.

"What's up?" She asked, still looking a bit sleepy.

"I have to go to school early for a project that I need to finish, so you don't need to make me breakfast or anything," I told her, using the same excuse I had with Mello.

"Oh, alright, that's fine." She smiled at me. "See you later!"

"Bye," I turned away with a wave and shot her a smile before heading down stairs and outside, and then took my usual route to school.

XXXX

"No, I do not see your point, Beyond," The brunette argued, "He was a psychopath, he had no reason not to kill her if she was going to out him to the police. I don't see how it wasn't him!"

Beyond let out a sigh at the prospect of having to have to explain his theory to the girl again. "He was raised on the streets with her since they where children. He'd murdered people so they could survive with the money off the victims. As he got older he murdered for fun, but when Cecilia found out that he wasn't murdering victims for survival alone, she threatened to out him to the police, as her journal states. She was shot in the head once, but Million's other victims were chopped and carved and made into a disturbing forms of art, as this file states. If you ask me, if he had a connection with her from childhood he would have put effort into making her corpse look nice."

"But the others were just his victims, if you are going with that point; he wouldn't have carved her out," She looked sickened, "He would have thought that she deserves to be preserved as she was, therefore he would have just left her like that; he's a human too, right?"

"You're not getting the point!" Beyond drawled.

"Your theory doesn't make any sense, Beyond, why would someone else want to kill her anyway?" She continued with her argument.

"Because, like you said, he was a psychopath! He wanted all of his victims to 'look good' after death. For example the more important or rich people he murdered he put more effort into cleaning off their blood and making sure the cuts where exact. Those who deserved it in his opinion he made look nicer, therefore he would have done so with someone he had a friendship with, also meaning he didn't kill her. For your other question there is not enough evidence to know for sure if someone else had a grudge on her or not." He explained his theory concisely.

"But-" She started, only to stop and pout, which was probably supposed to look attractive, "Fine," She grumbled. "But you're wrong."

I could tell Beyond's argument prevailed. In fact, he had the same theory I had for today's criminology assignment, although his was well thought out, while mine was just a vague idea. But I still felt bad for his partner's lack of smarts in this area of study.

"What do you think, Matt?" Beyond asked me, ignoring the girl sitting on the other side of the table who was now taking notes on the assignment resignedly.

I looked up from the crime photos that I was looking at, to look up at Beyond. "You had the same theory as mine, though you were more detailed," I responded carelessly.

"Ah, I see," He chuckled lightly and went back to his own file to build up evidence on the case.

Million Varmin and Cecilia Forefront, raised on the streets, no family, always relied on each other, a total of 23 murders ranging from beggars and gang members to wealthier and important business people. The reason for murdering at first was survival, they would murder the victim and then take all of their belongings. Eventually the murders became more precise and it became harder to find clues; the only thing tying them together being the dollar symbol carved on the victims' chest. After the 11th murder, it was concluded that the murders weren't just for survival anymore. In 2011, they got evidence after a killing that led them to an apartment on Riverside Bank in LA, where Cecilia was found shot and Million was nowhere to be seen. There is a lack of evidence everywhere and two years have passed, no more murders, no sign of Million anywhere.

Me and Beyond paired up and chose this assignment because of the fact that it was never solved and it would be interesting to come up with more theories for it, though it is pretty straight forward. The girl that joined us has a crush on me, I guess. It's foolish to choose your class partners just because of a crush, right? But anyway, criminology is okay, though I still don't care about it all that much; in fact, I'd only chosen it because it seemed more difficult than most of the other courses. I don't intend to pursue it in the future; I want to do something associated with games actually.

The school bell rang shrilly, signaling the end of class for today and the students collected their bags and began to leave as the teacher extolled the things to remember before they all left. I stood up with my bag ready to leave along with Beyond, who took his sweet time stretching in his chair before putting his books precisely in place. Zipping up his bag he finally stood up and followed me to the lockers. I put what books I wouldn't need in my locker and slung my bag over my shoulder, ready to leave.

"See you, Beyond." I waved goodbye to him and waited a few seconds in case he had anything he wanted to say.

"Yeah. Bye, Matt," He waved as well and headed the opposite way that I would go, as usual.

I headed off back the way I came to school this morning, through a few alleys that were usually frequented by students so they were generally safe.

Unlike this morning, I actually wanted to see Mello. I had gotten over the morning's predicament and getting away from him for the day, no matter how short the time period, had helped. I wanted to be friends with him, though there are a few problems that I should deal with concerning him, like convincing him to go back to his home and resolving things with his parents. But that will definitely take a while.

I like Mello. Like, I genuinely like him, and though I don't want to deal with my own feelings of attraction towards him right now, I still want to be friends with him. I also feel like I have known him for years. It is an odd feeling really, like I would trust him with anything even though I don't know him.

I arrived at the door to my house and right away noticed that my Mother's car was gone from the garage, so she left for some reason? Maybe she went to the market or something. It is likely, though she usually goes in the morning...

I opened the door, entered the house and took my off shoes before I headed towards my bedroom, though I stopped when I caught sight of Mello, sitting on the couch like he owned it.

He was watching a show of some sort on the TV with little interest; he had his legs crossed and his arms resting on top of the couch. Looking rather relaxed for someone who had run away and is hiding out in a house that belongs to someone else.

"You shouldn't be down here," I stated.

He didn't look at me when he responded, "Your Mom is gone and I am paying attention, when she comes back I will have plenty of time to go back to your room."

I stared at him, letting a moment of silence pass.

"And besides," He drawled, "Your room is boring as hell."

"Whatever," I huffed, giving up the small argument and turned away to go back to my room. I had a few things for homework that we were not allowed to do at school and had to wait till we got home anyway, so I decided I would get those over with and play some games for awhile. Then maybe I would see about socializing with Mello, which will definitely be difficult.

Mello didn't respond as I went upstairs and soon I was settled in front of my computer.

Within the course of thirty minutes I had all of my assignments done, I finished my criminology paper, a computer science file that was way too easy, and a math book that was supposed to take quite awhile, but I finished that easily as well. After that was done I entered an online game called Fallon Breaks that I had recently signed up for. It was interesting, kind of like Runescape but a little more simplified and more for one story line than many. It was fun and I enjoyed it.

Two hours passed in that fashion before I began to grow bored, I beat several levels of my current game and I was considering going to find Mello and do something. I wonder how good he is with games? He probably couldn't beat me even if he was really good, though.

I wondered where my Mom went, it was unusual for her to be gone this long after I got back from school and she didn't work a job. I dismissed the line of thought though, deciding that she was probably having lunch with a friend or something of the sort and lost track of time. I instead went downstairs to find Mello, who looked like he was observing the TV with little interest now. Why was he still there? Surely he was bored of that after this long?

I spoke from my place in the doorway before Mello noticed me, "Do you want to do something?"

He looked over at me. "Like what?" He asked blankly.

"I don't know, we could play some games together,"

That sounded so childish, dammit. And awkward...

"I told you already, that I wouldn't play your dumb games with you." He scoffed.

I let out a sigh, remembering the first day we met, and I walked over to the couch where I grabbed hold of the TV remote before Mello noticed what my intentions were.

"Hey!" He yelled, turning around in his seat.

I quickly backed away with a smirk and pressed a button on the remote changing the station to the Wii, "You're going to play Mariokart with me," I stated.

"No, I'm fucking not." He deadpanned while glaring at me.

I purposely pouted at him. "Just one game, come on!"

"One," He agreed as his turned back towards the TV, after he flipped me off of course. Typical.

"Great," I said happily, and hopped onto the couch, letting Mello have some space still as I shuffled through the TV stand and retrieved two Wii-motes and the wheel cases for them.

I sat back and clicked into the Mariokart icon on the screen and while it loaded, I tossed Mello a controller and started on the settings for our game.

"I don't know how to play," He admitted from beside me.

"Um," I took my eyes off the screen for a moment to tell him the controls and leaned closer to him so I could point to the buttons. "A is to look behind you, B is to drop your items, you can hold B to keep an item behind you, one is for breaks and two is gas. It's pretty simple. Oh, and you just use the remote like a wheel to turn."

"Seems stupid," He mumbled.

"You mean fun," I corrected him and sat back up to press the play button on the screen. "Hold the two button in sequence with the numbers to get a speed boost on the start line," I advised as the first map appeared. It was the Luigi Circuit which would be good for Mello to get the hang of the game.

The counter went off with a 'Go' and Mello (who was Bowser) and I (Mario) both went off with a speed boost, pulling ahead of the computers. But I bumped him out of the way and pulled ahead of him, earning a frustrated growl from Mello.

I saw Mello get hit by a red-shell as I took a corner and got a mystery box, but continued ahead of him anyways, determined to win the round.

Soon we left all of the characters at least half a lap behind us and Mello was in second place just behind me, sending off the odd green-shell with surprisingly good aim. He actually got me with a green-shell a few times. I had to admit, he was really good for someone who never played before.

The first race finished pretty quickly with me first and Mello second.

I heard Mello let out a sigh and toss the controller on the couch, I continued and pressed 'Next map' button on the screen.

"Hey, I said one game!" He shouted.

"Yeah, one game. You know there are several races in a game, right?" I smirked at him.

"You fucking-"

He was stopped mid sentence as I threw a pillow onto his face, though I soon realized this was a mistake as his face turned into an expression of rage and he raised his fist at me. "What the hell did you do that for?" He growled at me.

"Uh-" To late, his fist connected with my shoulder, in more of a push than a hit(that felt like a last minute decision) sending me sprawling to the floor below him, I made a noise of surprise as I reached my hand to my shoulder. Mello was small, but he was surprisingly strong.

"What the hell was that for?!" I shouted to him indignantly, only to get an angry glare and a scoff.

"You threw a pillow at me," He stated.

"It was a pillow, not Thor's hammer!" I countered. "How the fuck does that justify a punch?"

"Yeah well, what are you going to do about it?" He mocked, giving me a challenging look. The bugger, he was..totally baiting me.

I glared at him. He had no reason to punch me, pillows don't hurt, fists do. You would think he could have been less childish, though as I glared at him from the floor I noticed he was not as angry anymore as much as his expression showed a bit of mirth. He was teasing me, not quite baiting, I realized, and had an idea.

With one swift movement I pushed myself up, kicked my legs out and effectively knocked him to the ground. He let out a rather girly squeak as he hit the floor in a similar fashion that I had, and I took the chance to jump on him, pinning him to the floor in the only way I could without it being awkward and sat on his stomach sideways, crossing my legs.

"That," I snickered, "Is what I will do about it, Mello."

"What the hell?! Get off of me, you fucking piece of redheaded gamer shit!"

I ignored him as he threw a fit, kicking, screaming and uttering rather creative profanities, while I kept him pinned to the ground.

"Get off of me, you freak" He spoke quieter then last time, his face was red now from his incessant screaming and his hair tousled from his struggling. It looked rather cute.

"Apologize, and I will." I said smugly.

"Apologize?" He said incredulously "You drag me here, make me stay cooped up in your room all day, force me to play video games, then act like you know me or something and you expect me to apologize?"

"What?" That surprised me.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" He huffed.

"I act like I know you?" I clarified.

"Yeah, you make me play games with you, offer me clothes, tease me, you'd think we were middle school buddies or something,"

"I do that?" I questioned, still sitting on top of him.

"Yeah, dumbass."

"Well you do the same thing. But now that I think about it, I do feel like I know you," I mumbled thoughtfully.

"Can you get off of me now?"

"Not until you apologize" I persisted.

"Fine, I'm sorry that I punched you, Matt." He said offensively, not meaning it in the least.

"Good." I hopped up off of him and lent him a hand, he took it this time and stood up and dusted himself off.

An awkward silence passed us for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say after that, until Mello decided to speak. "Why are you doing this anyways? It makes no sense. I have known you for what? Five days?" He questioned me.

"Uh..." I stammered, not knowing what to say, but finally settled for, "I just like you, is there a problem with that?"

"Yes,"

"Why?" I challenged.

"There just is," He proclaimed.

"Well, tough luck. Also you've known me for six days, not five." I couldn't help but tease him with that little bit of information.

He paused, probably going through the last few days and counting how long since he first met me, and then returning me with a confused look "Are you stupid? It's five."

"Six," I smirked.

"I met you on Sunday, that is almost precisely five days."

"It's six," I repeated.

Mello opened his mouth to question me but was cut off by the house phone ringing and I rushed over to answer it, in case it was something important and blatantly ignored Mello's "Hey, forget the phone! What do you mean...?" and picked it up.

"Jeevas residence, Matt speaking,"

"Hello, this is the Spring Bank hospital. Is Thomas Jeevas at home?" A female voice spoke on the other end.

My stomach sank as I heard her and remembered my Mother being late, my voice was laced with worry when I spoke again (I know that for a fact because Mello noticed it too). "No, he is at work currently, what is going on?"

"What is your relation to the family?" The voice on the other end questioned.

"I'm Thomas Jeevas's son, you can call me Matt," I clarified for her.

"I'm sorry, your Mother was in an accident today at the market."

"What?!" I shouted, my stomach dropping and a wave of nausea passing through me. My mother has been sick for years, but never enough that she has ever ended up in the hospital, she always faired just fine despite her illness.

"Calm down, Matt, she is stable but we need her family to come to the hospital as soon as possible. Can you call your Father?"

"Yeah."

"Alright goodbye dear. Best of luck,"

I hung up without a response and simply stared at the phone.

What the hell happened? I felt a little more at ease knowing she is stable, but the way she said it, it must have been bad, really bad; especially for them to request we come to the hospital immediately.

"What's wrong?" Mello questioned from beside me.

I looked at him.

"It's my Mother..."


	6. "I don't mind"

"It's my mother," I said weakly, although I didn't actually care how I sounded at this point. Mello shot me a confused look, and I just shook my head slowly in response. It felt like time just slowed down, and I spent every agonizing second trying to fully grasp exactly what the voice in the phone told me. Mom had an accident. Mom had a...

"What do you mean, your Mother?" He questioned, and I wasn't sure if I was glad or angry that he had broken my train of thought.

"The hospital called. Said she...that she uh...had an a-accident." It was a struggle to verbalize those two seemingly simple sentences. Thankfully, Mello just stayed quiet with an understanding expression. Mechanically, I turned away from him and dialed Dad's workplace number.

"This is Thomas Jeevas of Tokata Corp, how may I help you?" Dad sounded tired from work, and I almost considered hanging up just to save him the worry. But even in that nearly-a-zombie state I knew that would have been a stupid thing to do, so I tried to quickly explain what happened in the gentlest possible way. I don't think I did a great job of it though.

"Dad...the hospital just called, Mom had an accident and they said we need to come there as soon as -as possible." I said this in a rush, so I didn't break down over the phone and leave Dad trying to figure out what I was blubbering; and somehow ended up sounding like an automaton.

"Oh my god! What the...okay, Mail, I will be right there. Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine," He spoke in a rushed manner and hung up abruptly. I felt terribly restless (underneath the numbness-of-the-dead feeling). What was I doing at home instead of racing over to the hospital? I could've called Dad on the way or something.

Oh yeah, I'm an emotional wreck and I'd probably have gotten into an accident too if I didn't try to collect myself at least a bit. Good call, me.

But, wait. Something had to have happened for her to have been affected so badly. Sure, last night she was tired but even if she was stressed, she has never ended up in the hospital for it. The doctors said it didn't need to be removed and that it wasn't growing, but...is it possible that they...missed something? Oh god...

"Matt!" Mello's voice snapped me from my thoughts that were slowly spiralling into paranoia.

"You're, um..." He trailed off and instead gestured to the desk that I was gripping harshly. My knuckles were white from the force I was exerting.

..Oh, I had been doing that?

I unclenched my fists, and flexed my fingers. They felt cramped.

"He's going to be here soon," I mumbled, only to earn a questioning look from Mello and realized he still didn't know what was going on.

"My Mother collapsed while she was in the market today, they have her in emergency care right now-" my voice broke against my will and I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. "You'll have to stay here, my Dad should be here in just a few minutes." I stated.

Mello looked at me unsurely "Alright, are you going to be okay?" He asked me, but this time his voice was soft. I couldn't help but think it was odd for his voice to hold that tone, but I found it extremely reassuring.

"I'm fine," I told him, and offered him a watery smile. It was the best I could do at that moment.

His lips formed a tense line, making it clear that he didn't believe me. "Okay, I will stay in your room until you get back then,"

"Yeah, it's best you go now,"

He let a out a sigh and turned to exit the room. He stopped and looked like he was going to say something for a second, but thought differently of it and continued out of the room. Once he was out of sight, I let out a breath I didn't even know I had been holding, and trudged into the boot room to find my shoes. I slipped on my Converses and sat on the bench beside the door to wait for Dad, who would probably be here in no more than ten minutes.

The short wait made me sick. I felt like I was going to vomit the whole time and there wasn't much I could do about it except worry, but then worrying wasn't going to help anyone. But, what if the doctors had missed something, or if my Mother had hidden something from us so that we didn't worry...she wouldn't have, would she? That would be stupid. She is not the type to do that anyway. She would definitely have told us. Right? Right?

My thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open and Dad stepping inside. He immediately saw me and gestured for me to follow him. I jumped up from my seat and followed him out the door; and once we sat in the vehicle, I buckled in and we pulled out of the driveway.

"What hospital did they say she is in?" He asked me, his voice laced with worry.

"Spring Bank," I responded shortly.

He nodded and sped down the street towards the hospital. The whole drive neither of us spoke, only a few worried glances shared here and there. Neither of us had anything to say, further discussion would be made afterwards maybe, but otherwise it was not needed.

When we pulled up to the hospital we both sprang out of the car and hurried into the building and straight to the reception desk, where Dad enquired about Mom.

"I'm Thomas Jeevas, we were told my wife had an accident and to come here..."

I zoned out of the conversation and tried to distract myself with the bland hospital walls and the stereotypical health awareness posters on them (that really didn't help in the slightest. Hospitals really need to learn that blank white walls and posters filled with pictures of sick people didn't make a comforting sight) while I waited for them to sign us in. I just wanted to know what happened and to see her.

"...is Marien Jeevas?" The receptionist asked, and that caught my attention.

"Yes," My Father affirmed.

"Okay, room 114, you can wait outside the door and the doctor will get to you once he is done inside"

That really didn't sound reassuring at all.

"Okay. Thank you" Dad said in a rush, and then we hurried down the hallway to find the room.

We found the door quickly enough and waited impatiently outside of it. Thankfully, it was only a few stressful minutes before the door clicked open and an elderly man in a white lab coat holding a clipboard slipped out. He quickly caught sight of us and held out the hand that wasn't holding the clipboard, to shake my Father's.

"Mr Jeevas?" He questioned.

My Dad nodded affirmatively and shook the offered hand.

"You can call me Dr. Froch. Okay, your wife is currently asleep but you can see her in a few minutes once you answer some questions and I tell you about her condition; is that alright with you?" He asked, getting straight to the point. I don't think he even noticed my existence, but I didn't really care about that. I just wanted to hear what condition Mom was in right now.

"Yes, whatever you need," Dad responded.

I couldn't help but tense up a little as the doc started speaking.

"Alright. First off, do you know if she had been sick lately, any diet changes, or missed her prescription at all?" He asked.

"No I don't believe so,"

"Okay, has there been anything stressful going on around your family?"

"No more than usual,"

The doctor raised an eyebrow but continued, "Okay, your wife was at the local market when she began vomiting and then passed out shortly after, someone called the ambulance and we brought her here, after she arrived here she began to have a seizure." He explained, before pausing to let us process this. Dad looked about as sick at the short explanation of how she got here as I felt, but told the doctor to go on anyway.

"Since you said nothing out of the ordinary had happened at home, I believe we missed something in her previous scans seeing as this happened so abruptly; and I deeply apologize for this. We need to do some more scans but that will have to wait until she is more stable, her situation is currently very fragile and for her own comfort we don't want too many things happening around her. Do you have any questions? Or would you like to see her now?" He asked softly.

"N-no, please let us see her."

I just stood there like a dumb statue, each and every word of the doctor's diagnostic report horrifying and irritating me more and more. They missed something? How incompetent do you have to be to get through medical school?

"Okay," The doctor- Froch, nodded and walked back over to the door, before he turned back and saw me. "You're Mail Jeevas, I presume?"

"Yes." I told him, knocking myself out of my reverie.

"Right, now, like I said, she is asleep; don't make any sudden movements or loud sounds, you can sit beside her for a little while if you like. You have fifteen minutes, I will come and get you when your time is up," He informed us and proceeded to open up the door, gesturing for us to go inside.

I followed my dad inside, apprehension settling in my stomach like a rock. I had no idea what to expect or if I could even handle seeing her hooked up to machines the way I imagined she would be. But I would soon find out as I enter the room and the door closed behind me, wouldn't I?

My eyes slowly adjusted to the different lighting and I felt my throat constrict at the sight of her on the bed, expectedly. I was right about possibly not being able to handle it, seeing a sick person in a game or movie is one thing, but seeing a family member like that is another.

Her skin was pale, slate white as if she was dead and her cheeks were sunken in, only adding to the sickly look. Her brown hair looked thinner than normal and slightly matted up as it was splayed out on the bed. There were several tubes connected to her arms working to keep her feeling as little pain as possible with whatever drugs they used, and overall she looked completely spent and trapped. Like even if she wanted, she wouldn't be able to even move slightly.

I felt my Father's hand on my shoulder and when I turned to look at him I knew he felt the same as me, his face displaying all of his terror. He gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder and went to sit on a chair beside her bed, I followed suit and sat down beside him.

I almost fell into my chair as my knees gave out. I knew you are supposed to be here to comfort your family member, but I couldn't look back up without getting the urge to vomit. This situation was somehow all too familiar and I knew that once I got home, I was going to break down into an ugly, snivelling, crying mess; even with Mello there, and even with how much I didn't want to do that. But I tried to forget about that and instead focus on what was going on around me.

My Father was holding her hand, gently muttering something unintelligible under his breath with his head bowed. Her breathing was so faint, and I could only tell she was breathing in the first place because of the slight rise and fall of her chest, however strained. I didn't know what to think, what if she was getting worse? What if they find out how bad it is and then say that she's only got a few more months to live? I don't think I could handle that. I felt everything around me crumbling. If my Mother...d-died, I would have no one left. Sure I had my Father, but he was never much one for Father-son time unless it suited him. He would never go out of his way to console me, become my mentor or anything of the sort, like Mom was.

I wouldn't get over her death, but then, who could get over the death of a beloved parent? I still didn't know for sure what was happening though; she could've just had an episode, however spontaneous it was. Maybe that's all it is. And, she is probably fighting it and she is getting better; yeah that sounds more like Mom. I have to be optimistic. But...what if it is as bad as it could be? She is the person I am most at ease with, when I'm down in the dumps and she can cheer me up so easily. What would I do without her? But for some reason Mello keeps coming to my mind, the teen that I met in a chat room, who just moved next door to me a few days ago. The teen that -dare I say it - I might love? In some strange, almost twisted way. I know this is a terrible time to decide exactly what Mello was to me, in fact, even thinking about it seems to be terribly callous; but there it is.

The door slipped open without my Father noticing and the doctor stepped in, "Mr Jeevas, Mail, your time is up. Please come along,"

I nodded and stood up weakly, my Father seemed very reluctant to leave but followed me out into the hallway anyway. The doctor shut the door behind us and turned to my Father, "I suggest you go home, as visiting hours are almost over and it will not help her condition in any way if you insist on sleeping here."

I could tell Dr. Froch didn't want my Father (or me, for that matter), staying here all night like some visitors do. But I also knew my Father would want to stay.

"I will stay; Matt, you can drive home if you would like," He spoke, confirming my thoughts.

"Dad, are you sure? There really is no harm in coming home for the night," I tried.

"Yes, if something happens I want to be right here with her. You go on home, son. I'll keep you updated." He said firmly and handed me the truck's keys.

"You are welcome to stay here Mr Jeev- Mai- Matt, you can stay as well if you would like," The doctor offered, stuttering over my title. Huh, he actually remembered how I liked to be addressed? Maybe it's because he noticed my weird-ass name. The weird-ass name Dad and Mom chose...

I shook myself (mentally) out of the emotional funk I nearly got into. I had better keep my emotions in check 'till I reach home; then they can reign supreme for all I care...

Oh, yeah, the doc was asking me if I wanted to stay here. Right.

I shook my head and took the keys. "No, I will go home." I wouldn't be able to sleep, but at least I could have my games to distract myself. I should also be with Mello just to keep an eye on him, and maybe I just wanted some company right now.

Dr. Froch only nodded. "Very well."

"Dad, do you need me to bring some clothes for you in the morning?" I offered.

"I will call you if I need anything," He responded, not really meeting my eyes.

"Okay," I agreed, and headed to the checkout desk.

"See you tomorrow." Dad said. Empty.

The same woman from before was at the desk, which I guess is reasonable since we have probably been here no more than thirty minutes; and I proceeded to approach her. "Hi, I would like to check out," I said.

"Alright, just sign this," She smiled brightly at me and handed me a stereotypical clipboard. Damn these receptionists and their smiles that make you feel like they won a fucking cruise to Hawaii, while your whole world is imploding. Damn them all.

I quickly scribbled my name on the paper and handed it back to her, before turning to leave, but not before catching a glimpse of her cheerful goodbye wave.

"Have a goodnight, sweetie." She spoke from behind me. I dismissed her with a wave and headed out the doors, thinking about how her voice was so obviously flirtatious. Damned woman has no sense of timing.

I reached the car shortly and stepped inside, buckling myself in, about to just drive away, but then I sat there for a minute; recalling all of the things that my Mother has done recently for me. She had settled my mind, no matter how little about my feelings for Mello. She had me meet him, she got me into the school I am in right now, she defended my love of games against my Father...It was setting in, I really didn't want to lose her, if this was bad, if they missed something and she was going to die soon...

I sniffed and rubbed my eyes as one tear fell down, embarrassed even though no one was around to see me.

I couldn't cry, it could be nothing, she could have years left to her, I can't cry because it was going to be just fine. I started up the engine and drove the car out of the parking lot, down the street and towards home. The whole twenty minute drive was spent with me holding back my tears.

Once I pulled into the driveway, I righted myself and congratulated myself for successfully holding back the tears. I got out of the car and walked along the sidewalk until I reached the door to my house and entered, kicking off my shoes and not bothering to set them on the rack like I usually would, before I stepped into the kitchen. Mello wasn't in the overtly tidy space, or living room as I soon found out. Which was good in case my Father had come back with me, so I headed upstairs, to my room.

I didn't want to cry in front of Mello, now that I was here I just didn't want to show that weakness; unlike while I was on the verge of tears back in the hospital moments before. But I really did want to cry (and I didn't want to cry it out in the laundry room or or one of the closets or washrooms), I could feel the tears breaking through no matter how hard I tried to hold them back.

I opened the door to my bedroom to find Mello sitting on my bed, he had a book at his side that he was probably reading, but had put aside when he heard me come in. I gave him a forced smile, and entered without closing the door like I usually would.

"My Dad stayed at the hospital," I spoke softly.

Mello scooted over on the bed, politely leaving room for me to sit down on, if I wanted to. I accepted the gesture and flopped down, leaving a good three feet between us.

"What happened?" He asked, not particularly kindly, but not rudely either. I guess that was his usual 'kind' tone, I don't know.

"She collapsed in the market," I informed him vaguely. I could feel tears just about breaking out, and shook my head in an attempt at trying to clear them. If I were to tell him more, I'm certain that I would cry so I tried to just leave it at that, despite his prying gaze. My pride couldn't handle crying in front of him.

"Is it bad?" He decided to ask me, and I got the feeling he had an idea of what happened.

"Yeah." I spoke, curtly.

"Why did she collapse?" He pried, much to my chagrin. But I had no mood or energy to tell him off for being so inconsiderate.

I tried to tell him what happened (might as well get this over with) without crying, but it was difficult and I only ended up sputtering random words, so I instead told him the two words that would explain everything.

"Brain tumor,"

That broke me, saying those words aloud made it so much more real than it seemed before and I found my throat constricting, causing my body to shake with sobs, and my face to be soon buried in my hands.

"Matt, I..." He tried awkwardly, not sure what to do. He could've just left me alone; but nope, he wanted to hear it.

I could feel him shifting uncomfortably beside me, unsure. I felt ashamed that I was crying right in front of someone else, but when I tried to hold it back it just came back more than before, so I soon gave up on trying to stop it. I heard him trying to say something and then a curse, so I thought he was going to get up and leave, I wouldn't blame him. But when he stood up and instead of leaving he sat beside me and wrapped me up in his arms tightly -I was surprised to say the least. My tears almost stopped from how surprised I was.

I wanted to push away from his grasp at first, but another round of sobs stopped me and instead I found myself leaning into him. He felt warm to the touch, his arms wrapped around me made me feel safe, in a way I had never felt before, and I couldn't help but to hug him back. He stayed silent and only held me while I cried into his chest, I could tell that he felt awkward, and so did I, but I didn't care much. It felt so nice to just be held by him, safe and secure. No matter how much the scene looked like it was from a cheap, cheesy TV show, I liked it.

I got that feeling again, the one from earlier today, the one that felt like I had known him all my life already. The awkwardness dissipated soon (for me at least) and I poured out all of my tears onto him. My racking sobs ebbed down into small whimpers into his shoulder and by now we were lying down more than sitting. I felt tired and I just wanted to lay there with Mello, his chest was comfortable and warm, safe.

Soon I was almost falling asleep, and surprisingly, Mello didn't even make a attempt to complain about any of this. I briefly wondered why, Mello doesn't seem like one who'd be okay with displaying physical affection. Oh wait, I just remembered his sleeping habits. But I pushed the thought away and settled into a more comfortable position on him. My eyes were red and puffy, my face wet with tears and for some reason I didn't care as long as it was just Mello. I couldn't think of anyone else I wouldn't mind seeing me cry.

I felt Mello move slightly and again thought he was getting irritated of me and was going to leave, but then I felt cool lips on my cheek. I froze, my eyes snapped open and I looked at him with a surprised expression.

"I-I'm sorry." He stuttered, looking away. "I...didn't mean to do that, I'll just-" He stopped his sentence and pushed me off of him gently as he got up to leave.

I felt a rush of feelings, so many feelings, like the ones from the day I realized he was gone, when I realized I might be attracted to him. Those feelings scared me, I didn't want to confront them for fear of what I would find, but that kiss on my cheek felt so...nice. Warm, affectionate and comforting. I liked it, and I didn't know what it meant but I didn't want Mello to think he did something wrong and before I knew I did it, I had grabbed his hand; stopping him from leaving.

I wondered if I was just trying to escape the feelings of terror I had about Mom's health, but decided that definitely wasn't why. These nearly overwhelming feelings of companionship and attraction definitely weren't merely an escape from my situation right now. No way.

He stopped and gave me a look that was part confusion, part surprise, and part embarrassment.

"I-it's okay, don't leave...please." I said quietly, almost a whisper, but he heard what I said anyways and stopped.

"Are you sure? I can just leave if you want me to..." He spoke unsurely.

"No, don't leave, I really don't mind."

"Alright," He said awkwardly with his head hung slightly and sat back down beside me, but I noticed how he put some more space between us. There was an awkward silence between us for a few minutes, Mello clearly feeling uncomfortable, it seemed so odd on him.

Then he spoke again, surprising me a little. "Are you disgusted now?" He said it worriedly and didn't look at me.

I looked at him, surprised, and was brought back to the night that I had found him, when he said that his parents don't care about him. It fit together perfectly, I realized it now why he had said that. His parents don't not care about him, they are disappointed about the fact that he likes guys, that he doesn't suit their expectations for a perfect son. That is why he feels that way about them, it is not that they generally dislike him, just that they dislike his orientation. This realization tilted me significantly, and I wondered how I hadn't realized it before. However slight their rejection of him is, they made him feel inferior, and I couldn't help but feel angry at them for not just accepting him the way he is. But I was broken out of my thoughts by Mello speaking again, and realized that I had been silent for awhile.

"You are, aren't you?" He said bitterly, glaring at me through his bangs.

"What? No!" I protested.

"You're lying,"

"Mello, I honestly don't mind at all," I persisted.

"I will leave if you want, I'm sure you won't feel comfortable with me in the same room as you." He said, his voice colder than the freaking glaciers. Wait, that is probably not the best metaphor, seeing how global warming was melting them away...

Well, you get my point.

"Mello," I said, making my voice as firm as I could with my throat still raw from crying, "Look at me."

He complied, surprised at my sudden change in tone.

I didn't know if I really wanted to do it, I wanted to know if these feelings were real and I wanted to know if I really felt that way about him, maybe doing what I was about to do could be the way I finally figure it out, but I wasn't sure I was ready to do it. But I did want to, there was this feeling in my chest again...

Without thinking about it further, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against Mello's own.

The sudden intake of breath through his nose signified his surprise, I knew, and it almost felt like he was about to pull away. But he did stay, replying to the kiss evenly. He definitely didn't expect me to kiss him, which gave me a sort of joy to prove my point to him. But most of all, it was how I felt with his lips against mine that I liked the most. I got this feeling in my chest, like I would explode; it wasn't merely sparks and fireworks like they describe it in books. It just felt right, more right than anything I had ever felt in my life, almost more right than breathing, like it was the most natural thing I could have ever done and that is how I confirmed for myself what I felt towards him. Though I couldn't bring myself to say the words, I knew it was right. I pulled back after a few seconds and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I told you, I don't mind."


	7. The cycle of acceptance

"You really don't?" He asked me, his voice filled with disbelief, as he was still slightly shocked about the sudden kiss. I don't think he even realized he was lightly touching his lips, as like he didn't believe this very real kiss was real.

Damn, his parents' unwillingness to accept his preferences really must've cut deep into his self-confidence. I never expected Mello to be so unsure; if anything, I'd expected him to be like, 'I'm hot stuff and you are lucky I deigned to even glance at you.' Okay, not that bad but y'know.

I nodded, now more than slightly embarrassed, my cheeks flushed. Oh my god, I actually did it! It felt liberating to finally realize what I'd pictured.

But now that I took that leap, the atmosphere around us turned awkward and uncomfortable. Neither of us knew what to say to alleviate the tense atmosphere. I was embarrassed because of my feelings for him and I had no way of knowing what the hell was going on in his head; he was too good at hiding his emotions when he wanted to. I also didn't know what would happen now, did this mean we had a chance at being together? Or were we just going to brush it under the rug and pretend it never happened? Obviously, I didn't want this to be something meaningless, but I didn't get any indicators (except that one kiss) that the dude actually wanted to be in any sort of relationship with anyone, let alone with me.

"So, what now?" I asked him after a few more seconds of the awkward silence from hell.

He shifted a bit, and rubbed his neck. "What did you intend this to be?" He looked vulnerable and slightly hopeful, and I know that I could only see all of this because he trusted me enough to not put up a facade anymore. I wondered if he was just like this with me, or if I just don't know him that well and he is like this normally. But I am going to flatter myself by thinking it was the former, because I am the most awesome guy I know. Okay, I'll stop now.

"Uh, I'm not sure what exactly I want," his face started to become closed off (crap, I just realized how terrible I am at this), "But I know that I want to be with you."

His demeanour thawed as he said, "So, this wasn't meant to be some cheap fling...right?"

"Hell no! No way!" I stopped myself before I gushed out into a litany of the synonyms of 'no' in a fit of nervousness.

"So...you wanna be boyfriends?" He clearly meant that to sound nonchalant and cool (but he utterly failed at that).

"That sounds very good," I said, smiling softly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, especially right now. I mean, what with your mother and stuff-" He trailed off, slightly awkward.

Yeah, that was a very valid point, but I felt like Mello had the ability to keep me calm enough to be able to wait this tense period out. He is not the type to cause drama (well, he did run away and stay hidden in the market long enough to cause the family next door -that was only acquainted with his own family for two days- to be worried enough to scour around the whole neighbourhood for him, but yeah), at least not too much, so that didn't concern me. I felt comfortable around him, more so than anybody else I had ever been around and I wanted to be with him, no matter how I felt at the time.

Instead of answering him I scooted closer to him, put my arms around his neck, and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I feel safe with you," I mumbled as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Why?" He questioned me as he held me to himself.

"Don't know," I mumbled back, "I just do."

Another round of silence passed, this one way more comfortable than the last.

My thoughts were a jumbled mess, that is the only way I could describe them. With my Mother, Mello and my own feelings, I didn't know what to do now. Mom's situation would take time to find out what was happening to her and why. The only thing I could do is be there for her and try not to worry, because she wouldn't want me to worry. Also, Mello can't just stay here forever like a fugitive, though I would really like him to stay. And I don't even know my what my feelings toward Mello are for sure. So basically I just have come to terms with and accept feelings that I don't even understand properly...

But I felt so comfortable with Mello, like I had known him forever. I don't know why; he just showed up in my life and I began to like him. A weirder feeling cannot be found.

"Hey, Matt?" He mumbled, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hummed curiously. I only noticed then that he had been stroking my hair absentmindedly, but he drew back as if he only just noticed that he was doing it as well.

"You said you have known me for six days...have I met you before and not remembered?"

Right, I forgot I had said that, but right now does seem like an okay time to tell him. If he had a bad reaction to me not saying it, at least he wouldn't be as angry as he would be any other time. Probably.

I pulled back with a little smile on my face. "You probably do remember," I stated.

He gave me a confused look, "What do you mean?" I could see him trying to figure it out, and there was no doubt that he was thinking about it while I was at the hospital, but was not able to come to a conclusion.

"Well," I paused, thinking of how I should tell him. "Matt is not my real name, it's just a nickname that I like better than my real one."

"How is that an answer?" He questioned me.

"My real name is Mail, M-A-I-L. Does this ring any bells?" I watched as his expression changed.

"Wait...you mean..." He stopped, processing what I had just told him before he gave me a disbelieving look, "You're that annoying idiot from Omegle?" he spoke with a mix of mirth and confusion in his voice.

"Yep, that'll be me, boyfriend dearest," I chuckled, seeing that he wasn't angry that I hadn't told him until now.

"Um, what do I say to that?" He mumbled.

I shrugged "I don't know, but remember when you first told me to call you Mello?"

"Oh, yeah, I do," he responded, seeming to piece it together easily now. "So why Matt?" He questioned, half-mockingly. Ah, here is the snark-master I came to love somehow.

I smiled as I remembered when I'd asked him the same question that day, and laughed a little. "I just like it," I responded.

xxx

"Are you sure you don't want me to get you anything?" I asked my Mother as I leaned over in the chair.

Last night, Mello and I went to bed pretty soon after I told him all about me being Mail. The atmosphere changed significantly between us after that; that is the funny thing about crying, while you're crying you feel terrible, but afterwards you feel much better, like a weight being lifted off of your shoulders. That morning I had left Mello at home so I could come to see my Mother, he was pretty fine with just staying home, and after I arrived at the hospital I found out that my Father slept little to none, which, sadly enough, I'd expected.

My father was currently filling out forms for the CAT scan for Mom that they needed, and left me in the room with her. She looked much better than when she first came in here, even though it has only been a few hours since she had arrived last night, and of course she could tell I was worried and kept telling me not to be so. But obviously, I couldn't help but worry; normal human emotions and all that.

"I am fine, sweetheart," She reassured me again.

I nodded, uncertainly staring at the floor.

She sighed, catching my attention and reaching her hand up unsteadily to stroke my hair. "My boy. Honestly, what happens happens. If this is terminal, there is nothing we can do about it. So stop worrying," she rasped weakly.

HOW DID SHE EXPECT ME TO STOP WORRYING AFTER HEARING THAT?! HOW?

I shifted in my seat, clasping my hands together. "I don't want to lose you, I can't stop worrying and you know that,"

She let out a sad breath and looked at me intently. "You have a lot going on right now, Matt, I don't want to weigh you down."

I looked down at my lap, knowing what she meant and feeling guilty about it.

"Is something wrong, Matt?" She whispered, finding the quiet tone easier on herself.

I looked up. "No, nothing, it's fine,"

"Okay," She said kindly, with a small smile.

I really needed to get Mello home, not just for his sake, but my own as well. I couldn't just keep lying to my parents, with them thinking I am upset because of him being gone, when he is actually at my house, I felt like the biggest liar I had ever been. I felt guilt well up in stomach that wouldn't go away, and I hated it.

The door clicked open, breaking me from my thoughts and I turned, expecting to see Dad or Dr. Froch. But instead, there was a petite blonde woman and a taller man, dressed elegantly but with worry etched on their faces as they entered. Angela and Eric, if I recall correctly.

The guilty feeling escalated, as I realized that I was not just lying to my parents but Mello's as well. And they were probably going through hell, worrying about their son who was in all actuality right next door to them.

"Angela, I didn't think you would be here," My Mother spoke, genuinly surprised at their presence.

Angela smiled and pulled up a seat beside me, "We normally wouldn't have come till later but you put in so much effort to help us find Mello that we thought we owed it to you," she said solemnly. "So how are you?"

"Been better," My Mother tried to laugh but flinched as her head clearly pounded at the action. "No sign of Mello?" She asked as she rubbed her head gently.

Ugh, she was guilt-tripping me without even knowing it.

Angela shook her head as Eric sat down beside her. "We are worried about him,"

She then turned to look at me, much to my chagrin.

"How are you doing, Matt?" She asked me.

"I-I'm doing fine," I stuttered, I felt bad to say the least.

Why do you put me in these situations, Mello? I wondered. But then again, I was the one who suggested that he hide out at my home because I couldn't bear to leave him alone even though he was doing quite well on his own. Ugh, I did this to myself, didn't I?.

"That's good, I know you don't know Mello all that well, but I am glad you put so much effort into helping us."

Oh boy, she had no idea how wrong she was.

"You're welcome." I nodded sheepishly, and stood up. "Um, I have to go to school, I will come see you afterwards though, okay?"

My Mother nodded cheerfully "Of course, don't get into any trouble, sweetheart."

I waved at her as I stepped out into the hallway, making sure not to let on that I was feeling as guilty as I was, and smiled at her. I didn't go far before I saw my Father in the hall and stopped in case he had something to say to me.

"How is she doing?" He questioned as soon as he saw me, that same concern etched on his face. He looked terrible, his perfectly ironed dress shirt wrinkled from sleeping in it, his hair barely combed back at all, bags under his eyes from hardly sleeping. His blue eyes lost all of their shine and were now dulled by sleeplessness and worry. It didn't take me much figuring out to know that he was punishing himself for my Mother's own sickness. He probably hasn't eaten at all through the time he has been here. All because he thinks there is something he did wrong that consequently led to the accident.

"She is doing much better from what I can see, did the doctor tell you if they can do the scan soon?" I questioned him, honestly curious.

He nodded. "He said they can do it tomorrow."

"That's good, I have to go to school; I told her I would come back later." I told him.

"Alright son, keep up your grades, we both know you need to," He spoke, earning an inward scowl from me as he walked away.

I never had any challenge in classes, school was always so easy for me. It was rare that I had to think hard to complete an assignment or had to do homework, unless it was something that I had to do at home as an after school assignment. I always had to pretend to have a slightly hard time so I didn't attract attention though, so when people told me I had to do my homework, or work hard, I always felt a little bit put off. Again, I caused it in the first place so technically they didn't earn my wrath. Gah!

With my mood slightly more disdainful than before I moved to the checkout, signed my name down and found my dad's ride. I buckled into the vehicle and drove off to school easily.

My mind was weighed down by everything that was going on, I simply kept overthinking everything. That, and I had a few things that needed to be taken care of. I didn't want to go to school, really it was the last thing on my mind right now. I would have much preferred skipping and going to talk to Mello, but my Father would most definitely get on my case if I did.

I pulled up the car into the school parking lot and turned the key, shutting off the engine and left the truck behind as I went into the school building. I found Beyond by his locker quickly and waved at him as I approached my own.

"Hey, Matt." He greeted me. "You doing alright?"

"Huh?" I looked up at him from my locker, confused. Surely he couldn't tell that something was wrong, or know what happened to my Mother?

"Well, I heard about your Mother," He said almost sympathetically, confirming my suspicions.

I frowned as I realized I didn't bring my bag, which carried a good amount of my belongings that I needed for school. I stood up, holding what books I still had and responded. "Yeah? I don't really want to talk about it," I shrugged, wondering how he knew about it, considering he knew about Mello too. Maybe the damn boy just gossips all day like old women do...

"Alright, that's fine. Just, if she kicks the bucket, let me know her morgue number." He chuckled as he went off to his own classe,s leaving me not knowing whether to be angry at that or kill him instead. I decided to just let it go though (it was with great deal of effort though).

Dismissing his crude remark with a sigh I headed off to my class, which wouldn't be starting for another five minutes. I wouldn't usually be that early to class but it couldn't be helped today, so I decided I would simply play games on my PSP while I waited.

When the teacher did walk in, she was five minutes late, which was an odd feat in itself. I continued playing my game without disruptions, only half paying attention and writing things down when required, until I heard her talk about Mello and I snapped my head up from the game I had been playing and hoped that no one noticed my reaction as I tuned into what the teacher was saying.

"...Mello Kheel ran away last Sunday, if anyone knows anything about him or has seen him, you can talk to me and I will send your report to the police. Of course, chances that you've seen him are pretty slim, so don't worry too much about it," She said with a light chuckle at the end and the class sniggered a little with her.

I frowned, for them it was a laughing matter, but for me it was far from that. I knew what I would be doing once I got home, Mello can't stay in my house for much longer. At least, without the knowledge of his parents.

The rest of the school day blew by surprisingly fast, me and Beyond aced our criminology test which was no surprise. Lunch went by normally, and soon enough I was heading back to my house.

"Mello?" I called out from the boot room as I kicked off my shoes and shut the door behind me. He didn't answer, so I checked the living room and then went up to my bedroom. I opened the door to find it empty, but I could hear the shower running, so I just sat down on my bed and waited for him to finish, wondering if he would take a long time like the first night he was here.

I could only hope that this conversation wouldn't go badly, but I would still do it. Though the longer I sat there on the bed the more apprehensive I became. He would most certainly get angry, and possibly punch me, then again he has surprised me before. I considered all of the possible (and some impossible) scenarios in my mind, trying to settle my nerves; but obviously, it didn't work. He would put up a fight, try to get out of it - an assortment of things really, I would just have to wait and see.

I startled when the bathroom door opened and turned my head to see Mello in a towel leaning on the door frame. I felt my face heat up as I stared at his chest for a moment, but tried to ignore it and cleared my throat.

"You should get dressed," I mumbled.

"Hm, yeah" He responded with a smirk and crossed the room. I didn't look as I heard some shuffling from behind me and soon enough he plopped down on the bed beside me, fully dressed and clad in leather.

"What's wrong?" He questioned me, I could tell from his expression that he knew something apart from Mom's condition was up.

"Well," I started nervously. "You need to go home soon," I told him, deciding to just say it without beating around the bush and see what happens.

"Why?" He growled. Uh-oh! Code Red!

"I'm sorry Mello, it's just-" I started only to be cut off, probably for the better so that he can blow off some steam.

"You just what? You live your perfect life with nice parents who actually care and keeping me here is too hard on you? I don't want to ever see them again and I may like you Matt, but I won't hesitate to just leave. You can't make me go back there!" He snapped, fury burning in his eyes.

I brought my gaze up to his, "I know you don't like them Mello, but you can't stay here, at least tell them where you are or something. I can't stand lying to everyone."

"I thought you wanted me here?" He deadpanned. It scared me, he had no emotion in his voice, not even anger as he said that. I knew he was going to snap soon if I didn't manage to turn this around somehow.

"Mello, I can't lie to everybody around me, not to mention you are bound to be found out soon, and that will surely cause a lot of trouble. I'm going to be eighteen in a few months, so maybe you could stay with your parents until then and we could get a place of our own," I explained, hoping to calm him down.

He looked dead angry for a moment until what I said sunk in, and he understood the full implications of what I'd just said. But I didn't regret saying it, not at all, and kept my gaze level with his.

"You'd want me to move in with you?" He questioned doubtfully, his expression telling me that he might have thought that I was just bribing him.

"Yes," I affirmed, not a trace of doubt in my voice.

"You know I don't want to confront them," He mumbled then, his voice taking on a more wheedling tone.

I frowned, "I can go with you, if you would like,"

"Why are you doing this?" He questioned me sharply, his voice almost frustrated, but veiled with anger.

I sighed, "I already said why," I told him firmly, "I like you. A lot."

He stared at me, his porcelain blue eyes conveying a mess of emotions before it turned to a mix between irritation and humor.

"You're like a puppy." He stated.

"What?" I was dumbfounded at how he literally leapt from that super-serious conversation to such a light-hearted topic, but let him continue (duh, I didn't want to get punched by my boyfriend, for god's sake).

"You hardly know me, yet you follow me around, you seem to be willing to do anything for me and you are loyal. Hell, when you pout, you even give me those puppy eyes," He sniggered.

"Puppy eyes?" I echoed, still wondering why he brought that up now. But I wasn't complaining. though part of me disliked it, I also liked that he thought of me in such a way.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

I giggled a little, feeling my face heat up again and responded while trying to sound firm. "You're avoiding the subject,"

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound very serious,"

"I know Mello," I breathed "But can you? Just put up with your parents for awhile until we can get a place of our own?"

He paused, looking thoughtful then spoke. "On a few conditions," He stated.

"Go on," I agreed, urging him to continue.

"First, you will come with me when I go there. And second, you can't go back on what you just said,"

I nodded in agreement. These sound reasonable.

"Third, you have to buy me chocolate for the rest of the year,"

Where did that even come from?

I raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"And you can't ever leave me, or go against something I say," He finished.

Um, what? I love the guy and all that but ain't nobody giving up no free will.

"Most of them sound good, but I don't think you want to have a boyfriend who's basically just an automaton, do you? I get to keep my free will, thanks."

"How would you know that?"

"Well, we did get together and literally all we ever did before that was fight or argue,"

"Well, well, well. The puppy is barking back," He said laughingly, but he didn't mean it derogatorily.

"Shut it, dumbass," I said, before laughing lightly too.

"Alright then, you get to keep your free will, provided you don't ever leave me,"

"That sounds quite doable indeed,"

The conditions felt weirdly nice and kind of like he owned me. Maybe it's because we're in the honeymoon phase of our relationship, but it just made me feel good.

"Good," He responded with a smirk, him knowing what he just made me agree to.

"But you have to agree to a few of my conditions," I added, causing him to raise an eyebrow. His expression basically said 'how is that supposed to work?', but he let me continue.

"First, you can never leave me behind; second, you need to value yourself way more than you do right now. Third, you can never break my game consoles when you're mad and fourth, you can't run away again."

He snorted as I finished and stood up from the bed.

"Yeah right," He mumbled as he went over to his bag on the floor. He said it that way, but I still knew what he meant and I knew for sure that he would never break that promise, unless I broke one first. A small smile appeared on my lips as I imagined what we had just begun.

He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's go then,"

"Already?" I asked him, surprised. I thought he would stall for a while, or at least plan to do it tomorrow.

He shrugged "Might as well get this over with,"

"Gotcha," I replied and stood up from the bed while motioning for him to follow me.

Once we were outside, I became a little nervous, things going through my head like; What if they think he has been with me this whole time? Or, what if they ground him from seeing me? Not that that would stop him, But I was still nervous. What if Mello got in trouble? I could see he was doing that thing he does where he hides his emotions, I had noticed he does that before when he is nervous, afraid, or anything really that he doesn't want to show (and thus, I became Captain Obvious). Any other person wouldn't have noticed he does that, not until they knew him for longer, but I have always had a talent at reading people; Mello being no exception to my mad skillz.

I slipped my hand in his as we walked down the street and felt him glance at me briefly, but he didn't protest as we continued along our path.

Mello's Father would probably be at work right now; which was good. One parent is easier to deal with than two (unless that one parent knew martial arts and decided that they were going to wipe me off the face of earth. Gulp.), I thought to myself as we reached the door and Mello pressed the doorbell,

Mello's house was like most of the other houses on the street: grey panelling, stone masonry, shuttered windows, and way bigger than my house. I wondered what his room was like, but then again he hasn't had any time to unpack so it probably isn't that personalized yet.

Mello let go of my hand as the door opened, but I didn't so much as look at him, knowing that he wouldn't want the extra trouble of her knowing we were together in that way.

As soon as Angela saw us, she gasped and fumbled with her words until she let out a awkward greeting. "Matt...Miheal, you're back."

Thank you, Captain Obvious 2.0.

"Yes, Mother." He grumbled.

I fidgeted as I saw how her surprise turned into irritation and she gestured us to come inside with an authoritative "You have some things to explain, boys."

We followed her inside, Mello looking firm and nonchalant, which I knew was a facade to hide his own irritation, and me (most probably) looking nervous and quite out of place. The inside of their house seemed even bigger than the outside, with fountains (why?), paintings (some of which I recognized and know they cost fortunes), clocks and statues. It looked more like a museum or hotel. It was extremely beautiful, and even though our house was big, like I said before, my family has never bothered to expand it. Mello's house in comparison was huge to mine, and I decided this house is reason enough to move all of the way from Slovenia to here.

We settled down on some couches in the living room, Mello and I closely beside each other, almost bumping shoulders, and Angela across from us. She settled down before letting out a sigh and speaking.

"Mihael, you gave us a big scare running away like that, especially in this city, where who knows what could happen!" She scolded.

Hey, LA isn't that bad!

"Bullshit," Mello deadpanned, even surprising me with his bluntness.

Angela gave him an annoyed look but continued. "We care about you Miheal, we just don't like your choices, which are bad. I have told you this before-"

This was really not the happy family reunion I was looking forward to. And my amazing deductive skills tell me that it's just going to become even uglier.

"No you don't, and I could care less either way," He said, sounding angrier every second. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but I knew that it wouldn't help him in the slightest; what with his extremely homophobic Mother here.

Angela turned her gaze to me, causing me to tense up. "And you, Matt, do you know where Miheal has been these last few days? Has he been at your house this whole time?"

There, that accusation that I had been nervous about, I wasn't sure what to tell her. It was clear she was a more disconnected type of Mother for whom caring for her son came second to his standing in the world, so telling the truth wouldn't work.

"I found him this morning on my way to school and convinced him to come home with me," I explained vaguely, really only half lying.

She huffed. "Alright Matt, you can go home now. This is our family's business." She spoke as she pulled out a mobile from her pocket.

Right, that is exactly the way she should treat the guy who found her missing son (and kept him hidden for a while after that, but she didn't know that). Anyway, the point is, she pissed me off.

I opened my mouth to protest but Mello beat me to it, snapping at his Mother.

"He is staying,"

She looked up from her phone in surprise at his voice and raised an eyebrow "I think that is my decision, Mihael."

This was my turn to speak on behalf of both of us, I decided, not caring if I was out of line.

"Look, Angela, I am staying until whatever this is, is finished. I kinda promised him I would and I'm not going to back out of it."

"Matt-" She started only to be cut off by Mello again.

"He is staying, unless you want me to leave again?" He challenged.

I spoke again, knowing the situation was quickly escalating and trying to ease the atmosphere and get this over with in the process. "I promise that if you let this go this time, Mello won't do it again. Okay? Please just let it go this time" I hoped that this would be enough to convince her, because really, I couldn't say anything else without sounding like a broken record.

She let out a sigh. "Matt, this really is none of your business,"

Mello was about to speak again but I kicked his leg, knowing that she was letting up. "You can go to your room now, you need to start school on Monday, but I will drop this issue, okay? As long as what Matt says is true," She gave me a look and then moved her gaze to Mello in question.

He seemed about to argue but instead nodded reluctantly and agreed. "I won't."

"Good," She said and set down her phone, "But if this happens again I won't hesitate to make more of it, I am only letting you go this time because of Matt, got it?"

"Gotcha." He grumbled and stood up pulling me with him.

"So I'll...go home now?" I asked him.

"Yeah, go." He said blankly.

I frowned, wanting him to walk me to the door where I could speak to him alone, but conceded and headed off with a wave.

"See ya, Mells," I whispered to him indiscreetly. Oh yeah, we gave each other nicknames already.

"Yeah. Bye, Mattie." He gave me a soft smile even though he clearly wasn't happy, and as I walked around the corner to exit his home I saw him give his Mother a curt nod and walk off to where I assumed his room was.

I just hoped he would be okay till tomorrow, and not run off again. But I was pretty certain he would hold up to his word.


	8. Get to know you

I was pretty glad that today was Friday, the last day of the week. After the bell rings I'll have a full 54 hours to do whatever I wanted, and I had plenty that I wanted to do. Apart from constantly worrying about Mom, sorting out the Mello issue, -which I didn't even know if there was anything to sort out, just a lack of information- I had the weekend to simply settle down to play video games. For as long as I wanted. unless of course Mello were to stay the night...anyways.

Mom will be getting the results of CAT scan today. So when I go to the hospital today, I'll get to see the results as well. I was anxious about that; sick to my stomach really. I hated that feeling and I couldn't get rid of it, and I hated school for making me stay here while my Mother was in a critical condition. Really, what if it is as bad as my worst nightmares? But I guess Dad would have called me if it was anywhere as bad as that. Anyway, that isn't the point. The point is, schools should be considerate enough to give the grieving members of a family a day or ten off. Ultimately, I can only try to not worry (and fail).

And about Mello, our relationship is just a teensy bit odd; I mean we have known each other for a week now and all we have really done is fight, play games, kiss (like twice, and they didn't even get steamy), give each other nicknames, and have a few civil conversations. I wanted to get to know Mello better, there was that.

I realized in all of the things that had been happening around us this week we never even exchanged each other's phone numbers. I'm not surprised considering the recent situation, but that meant that to see Mello I would have to go to his house and face his parents. Which may not be bad, but I feel like they are going to be -if only a little- hostile towards me.

As soon as school is out I was going to go visit my Mother, then I'll go and see Mello. I kind of wanted to go on a date with him. I mean I could at least try to have fun even though my Mom is in the hospital; in fact, she'd want that. So it just depends on if Mello wants to go out with me. Even if we ended up just going to my house, having some pizza and watching movies, it would be nice; we don't really even need to go out (wow, I'm such a low maintenance boyfriend. How am I not trending in the dating scene? I would date me). Just spending time with him would be nice.

It still felt kind of weird to call myself gay. I mean, I had never even been interested in girls before and I am not necessarily attracted to guys, I am just attracted to Mello. Just the chocolate-craving, leather-wearing, blond, snarky, and sometimes distant Mello. I didn't really care all that much about labelling myself; I knew I liked Mello more than I have ever liked anybody else, so to me that just means I like Mello, I guess I could be considered gay, but then I am only gay for Mello. So what does that mean? Maybe I'm demisexual, I don't know.

I don't really understand it. I just know Mello is the only person that I have ever felt comfortable with; attracted to, connected to, drawn to. Just him. So it didn't really matter what I was, what we are doesn't need a label.

That school day I spent trying to hurry out of there as soon as the final bell rang; and once it did, I got out of there like a bat out of hell, without a backward glance (Beyond wasn't in my Social class, which was the last period for the day), because I was going to go to the hospital right after school. I had driven my Dad's truck here, it would save time, instead of walking all of the way home and then driving.

I exited the school building and briskly walked across the school parking lot, dodging all of the other students on my way. I passed a cheerful group of girls as I approached the truck and unlocked the door, getting in. I was too focused on buckling in and turning on the car (like I turn on everyone around me. Just kidding) that I didn't notice the amused figure in my back seat until he spoke up, and by then I was just pulling out of the parking lot.

"Hello, Matt."

I jumped in my seat and hit the brakes hard, grinding to a sudden halt. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard to execute without crashing the car into something; and more importantly, I didn't shriek like a banshee. I had a string suspicion that I knew who the mystery hitchhiker was, and my guess was confirmed when I saw Mello smirking at me, draped over the backseat of the truck with a chocolate bar in his hand. He looked like he owned the truck and I was his chauffeur or something. And the worst part was, he looked good when he did that, like he was the regal king of some land, whose royal sceptre was a chocolate bar. Damnit!

I stared at him in brief shock before yelling, "What the hell, Mello?! Are you trying to get me to crash?!"

Though, I guess now I don't need to worry about having a face-off with his parents. The perks of nearly crashing and dying because of my boyfriend, I guess.

He chuckled, frustrating me even more with how he was clearly amused at my reaction. How did he even get in here? I remember clearly that I'd locked the car.

"No, that was totally your fault," He stated blandly.

How?

I glared at him.

"How did you even get in here?" I asked him, after my heartrate finally got back to normal, and resumed my drive out of the parking lot.

I saw him lean forward in the rear view mirror so he was a little closer to me as he lightly whispered, "I picked the lock."

"Okay," I trailed off. I was almost not surprised that he managed doing that. And holy damn, the way he said that was HOT.

"You're going to see your Mom right?" He asked me, changing the topic. And, ah, that sobered me up quick enough.

"Yeah," I responded glancing back at him as I drove onto the highway, "Do you plan on coming with me?"

"If you don't mind,"

"Cool..." I was a little unsure about that, but I didn't mind all that much and then I changed the subject to something I was wondering about.

"Do you, uh, maybe want to hang out? Today, I mean. Maybe get pizza and some movies at my place?" I asked him, feeling my face heat up as I asked.

He had an unreadable expression for a second before he responded, "Yeah, we can do that."

"What is it?" I questioned him, wondering what that expression was all about.

"Well, it's just that I expected you to ask me to go with you to a restaurant; but this is fine."

"Did you want to go to one? We can." I told him, a little flustered now.

"No, its fine, I would prefer something a little less busy anyways."

Then why did he even bother saying that in the first place?

"You sure?" I pressed. It sure pales in comparison to Mello's expectation of a good restaurant, damnit. Why wasn't I more romantic?

"Yep, pizza and movies sounds like a great plan." He assured me with a warm smile.

Did I mention how extremely attractive I find Mello to be when he shows his soft side?

I smiled back. "Good," I said as I pulled into the hospital parking lot.

I turned off the engine and hopped out of the truck, followed by Mello who jumped up through my seat and out my door, pecking me on the cheek as he landed on the pavement. I blushed lightly, and briefly wondered why he exited the truck through my door; but pushed the thought aside and instead gestured for him to follow me.

"So, how did it go with your parents?" I asked him, as we walked through the hospital parking lot.

He looked a little irritated when he responded, "They didn't bother me once I went to my bedroom, but they did freeze all my credit cards."

"Oh."

That was pretty rude of his parents after all; despite the fact that he did run away, it was their fault that he ran away in the first place. I thought to myself as a steady silence fell upon us and we entered the hospital, but it was not awkward, Filled with a few questions maybe, but it was fine.

We checked ourselves in and were told to sit in the waiting area until the doctor could come and get us. The waiting area actually looked pretty normal, now that I could view it a little more optimistically, blue chairs, a TV, magazines, a few puzzles and card games (huh, maybe I was too quick to judge hospital decor the other day. Well, I can be excused, so it's fine). Mello and I sat down beside each other as we waited. After a few seconds Mello spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen on us.

"So, are we still...going to move in together?" He asked me, unsurely. I was surprised by the question considering we had already established this.

"Of course, I told you we would." I told him.

He shifted in his seat. "You hardly know me, I just don't get why you would do that, let alone want to," He mumbled.

I stayed silent for a minute, not sure what to tell him. We'd gone over this briefly before but I didn't exactly give him a clear answer, partly because I needed more time to sift through the onslaught of unidentifiable emotions coursing through me then. Clearly, I needed to tell him something, as he was giving me a look of pure uncertainty and curiosity.

"Um..." I wasn't really sure how to say this without sounding like a naive idiot, "I don't really know why, but I just feel like I have known you for all of my life. Like, I could trust you with my life, instinctually."

Mello looked confused, almost borderline irritated, and slightly embarrassed as well. "That's stupid." He told me flatly.

"What?" I said dumbly, as I stared at him.

"You're talking about this like it's some lame love-at-first sight thing that those stupid fairytales glorify so much. Well, newsflash; they don't exist. I like you, more than any other person I have ever met; but you are still kind of stupid, Matt."

Well, thanks for your input, Mello. I love you too.

"You're probably right, but that is still how I feel," I told him. Really, that is how I felt, like this was some fairytale, I guess I was just naive underneath all my initial cynicism.

He sighed and hung his head a little.

"You really are like a puppy," He said, shaking his head exasperatedly.

I grinned at the description of me he seemed to like. "Thank you, I guess."

"That's not supposed to be a compliment, you know,"

Why, though? Puppies are probably the best things that ever happened to mankind.

"Mail Jeevas?" A voice spoke from behind me just as I was about to speak again, and I turned around to see Dr. Froch. I was relieved to see that he didn't seem like he came bearing bad news, and responded with a hello as I stood up with Mello following right behind me.

"Is he with you?" He asked me, gesturing to Mello.

"Yes; this is Mello," I told him, a little impatient to hear what he had to say about my Mother.

"Alright, your Father is currently with your Mother; she just woke up a little bit ago, so you can see her in a second here. I am happy to inform you that she will be fine, we can remove the tumor in a few days and she will probably be on her feet in no time at all. It looks like the tumor was healing itself but her body couldn't handle it and she had passed out because of that, but overall, with time she will be perfectly fine."

I beamed at the news. She was going to be perfectly fine, my worst fears wouldn't come true for some time still. A weight was lifted off of my chest at this news.

"How long till she can come home?" I questioned him after a few seconds.

"Maybe three weeks," He informed me.

I smiled a little wider and turned around, grabbed Mello's face, and planted a kiss on his lips without thinking. I felt him tense up in surprise but he quickly softened and kissed me back. I could feel the doc's disapproving glare from behind me, reminding me that most people are against gay people and I pulled back regretfully landing a last peck on Mello's lips before I turned back to Dr. Froch.

"Can we see her now?" I questioned him.

"Of course, come this way." He said and turned around partially, waiting for us to follow.

I grabbed Mello's hand and led him down the hall as we followed the doctor. But I did notice and definitely didn't like how the doctor kept glancing at us repeatedly, as if we were some patients that needed to be treated. Mello noticed his glances too; I could feel him tense up every time the doctor passed us a not-as-discreet-as-he'd-like-to-think look, and I felt just a little bit of anger bubbling up in my stomach (despite the fact that I felt like hugging everyone because Mom was alright!).

I knew that some people disliked homosexuals, but it was unfair. Just because two people of the same gender felt that way about each other, people thought they were strange? I mean I never thought that much about it, but I never scorned homosexual couples or treated them like aliens not like this doctor was doing. Plus, this is the 21st century, for god's sake! I guess this is how Mello's parents treat him, to an extent anyway. I kind of expected them to be a lot more accepting than they are, but I guess an opinion is hard to change.

We arrived at the door to Mom's soon-not-her hospital room and the doctor gave a brief knock on the door as he waited for an answer. Once he heard a "Come in!", he pulled open the door and gestured for us to enter. Mello lightly let go of my hand but I held it firmly, earning a questioning look from him that said 'they're okay with it?'.

I shook my head.

"They might as well know now," I whispered as we slid inside the dimly lit room, still holding each other's hands.

The first thing that I noticed once we entered was Mom's eyes zeroing in on us holding each other's hands. For a second I thought she might have disapproved our being together, but then the corners of her lips turned up into a small smile and she nodded at us, both as a greeting and sign of understanding. I could tell she was surprised by my choice, but she would accept it.

Despite the fact that I was over the moon that Mom essentially said she's get my back on this, I felt a little upset by how tired she looked. I know that the CAT scans can be pretty bad and take a lot out of some people, but it was still upsetting seeing her in this condition.

It was when I caught sight of my Father looking at us that my stomach sank. I knew we would have some more trouble with him, but his expression was filled with clear disapproval as he looked back and forth between me and Mello, immediately figuring out what was happening.

"Honey..." My Mother murmured to my Father, not wanting him to make a scene, as he surely would.

"Matt?" He questioned me, seriously.

I stiffened but tried to keep my composure under his stare and sat down beside Mom's bed, on the opposite side that my Father was on, with Mello following suit and sitting beside me.

"I assume this is just a phase?" He asked me.

Seriously, Dad? A phase?

Please.

"No, it's not," I told him honestly, hoping that he would either leave it or accept it.

"Nonsense." He stated.

"Honey, its Matt's choice who he wants to be with. I know it's a little upsetting but just accept it," I did appreciate the efforts Mom took to get Dad on board, but I knew it would take a little more than that.

"No, I won't accept it. My son won't be gay." He sounded firm and unyielding, but I could tell that he was at a bit of a loss for words. He didn't know how to handle this and I almost regretted coming in here with Mello, but I was fairly sure this would work itself out eventually. If anything this would have had to happen later.

"Mr. Jeevas," Mello spoke up from beside me, surprising both me and my father. "I know you don't want a gay son, it is the worst fear for most parents. But just accept him for who he is. I know better than anybody what it is like to have a parent who is ashamed of their child, so please don't put Matt through that." His voice was softer than normal -Or what seemed to be his normal around most people.

I just stared at Mello in surprise, I didn't expect him in the least to say that, or even speak up. But he did, in that moment I wanted to grab him and cover him in kisses (a feeling I've never had before) but I knew that that would only cause trouble. But still, he told my parents and me how he felt about his parents. Maybe not in so many words, but it was something I never ever expected him to do. My Father looked unsure now, I knew that he was disappointed about my being gay, what parent wouldn't? But I only wanted him to at least accept us.

"Matt..." He trailed off.

"Matt, I am fine with your decision. Just so you know, I will support you both no matter what." Mom spoke up with a smile.

Wow, I kind of expected her to take some more time to approve of this. God, thank you for returning Mom to me and Dad safely.

I smiled back at her gratefully. "Thank you."

I then looked over at my Dad, who seemed conflicted; and I could only try guessing what he was thinking, until he spoke up again.

"Matt, I don't like this, but I won't make a big deal out of it. Just don't do anything...weird around me, okay?" He sounded confused as hell. Well, it's understandable, I guess.

"Hopefully this is really just a phase." He added under his breath.

Yeah, sorry Dad, but that's not happening.

Mello looked a little angry at that. That was without doubt something his own parents had told him in the past (and probably even now). But I only nodded gratefully at my Father and gave Mello's hand a light squeeze, knowing that this wouldn't quite be the end of it.

"Good," Mom said, grasping Dad's hand.

"Did the doctor tell you the news?" She asked me with a relieved expression on her face.

I nodded. "Yeah, it's great, really great!" I said with a smile.

Mom smiled back and closed her eyes with a sigh, "It is," she said tiredly.

"Come on Matt, let's let your Mother rest; she needs it." Dad said, almost dejectedly and then stood up and kissed her on her forehead after he collected his things.

"Okay, are you coming home?" I questioned my Father, seeing his bag with a few clothes and his daily things as I stood up as well.

"No, I am staying in a hotel just down the road in case I need to get here quickly," He explained. "Besides, I uh, I am sure you and Mello want to spend some time alone." He added a little bitterly, causing me to feel a little bit annoyed at his primitive attitude towards us, but I guess it could have been worse; at least he was being relatively pleasant about it.

"Okay," I responded "Goodbye Mom, I'll come by tomorrow." I said as I exited the room.

"Goodbye, Matt," she responded softly, and I closed the door when Mello left the room and I was sure she had nothing else to say. A few seconds after I closed the door, Dad found Dr. Froch and was talking to him about something, I couldn't hear from where I was, though I didn't much care anyways.

"Thank you for speaking up for me," I told Mello without looking at him, honestly glad that he did that.

"You're welcome," He trailed off and I turned to look at him, sensing that something was wrong. He looked distant, I didn't blame him considering what just happened, I knew he might have a hard time with that, considering his own history his own parents, even though I only knew vague details I understood. But I still asked him why he looked upset.

"What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

He shrugged, "This was just too similar to when I came out to my parents," He spoke nonchalantly, trying not to make a big deal about it; but I knew better.

"Hey," I said.

He gave me a questioning look.

"Don't worry about it, yeah? It can't be helped. Now let's go to my place and order some pizza." I suggested, trying to cheer him up.

He smiled, accepting the offer. "Let's do it."

I smiled back at him and then we drove back home. Mello and I didn't say much during the short drive and soon we were parked in the driveway to my house. I unbuckled and got out of the truck followed my Mello who exited through my door again for a reason I couldn't comprehend, and I just had to stop and ask; it just seemed too odd.

"Why do you do that?"

He gave me a questioning look, urging me to clarify.

"Exit the truck through my door instead of yours, I mean." I explained.

"Oh." He looked like he was considering whether he should tell me, until he decided to speak.

"Well?"

"Back in my hometown, my friend Jure's truck was pretty beat up and only the door at the driver's side worked, so it's just kind of a habit," He told me with a smile, though it seemed like something was bothering him as he said that. But I brushed that off almost as soon as I noticed it and nodded, recalling when I looked up his Facebook page and saw the only person on his friends list besides his parents was a boy named Jure. I briefly wondered if they were together or anything, or actually just friends. I would have to ask him sometime, but not now, I decided.

"In Slovenia." I said, not as a question but a statement.

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" He questioned me, only slightly curious.

"Facebook," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"You looked me up?" He asked me, clearly wondering why I would have done that.

"Yeah, when I was looking for you. I needed a lead to where you were. That was how I knew to look in the market," I explained for him.

"Oh, gotcha." He responded, seeming to piece together the rest, including how I knew about his admiration of chocolate.

"Come on, let's go inside and order pizza!" I grabbed his hand, dragging him into the house. To my surprise he didn't protest my dragging him, I at least expected an "I can walk myself, you know," but he didn't say anything. Once the door was closed behind us, I kicked off my shoes and entered the kitchen with Mello just a little behind me and sat down on the chair beside the kitchen phone.

"What kind of pizza do you want?" I asked him as I held up the receiver.

He shrugged "I don't really have a preference."

What?! He doesn't have a-...y'know what? I'm just going to look right past this.

"How about a vegetable and a chicken, then?" I asked as I dialed up the number for a pizza delivery service.

"Sounds good to me." He responded and leaned on the desk a little as the phone rang, it barely rang twice before it was picked up and a cheery female voice on the other end answered; "Amane's pizza delivery, Linda speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hi, I would like to order a medium vegetable pizza and a medium chicken pizza,"

"Alright! If that is all, please give me your address and they should be delivered in about 15 minutes," 'Linda' spoke in a friendly manner.

"That's all," I assured her "My address is 1310, Bird street, Robin Drive."

"Thank you and have a good night!" With that the phone clicked off and I placed it back on the register.

"15 minutes," I told him as I stood up "Lets go pick a movie until they arrive. What would you like to watch?"

"Anything, as long as it's not some cheesy romance," he drawled and followed me into the living room where I opened up a large cupboard that held; on one half, my games, and on the other whatever movies my family had. I sifted through some movies until I found one that would probably suit Mello and handed it to him. "What about this one?"

He took it and read the cover for a few seconds, and reading the label before looking back at me. "The LABB murder cases?" He questioned.

"Yeah, have you seen it?" I asked him.

"No, but it looks a little cheesy, detective movies usually are."

I laughed, having forgotten what he seemed to want to be a detective himself. "I promise it is good, better than most movies like this anyway."

"I will try it, then," He agreed, handing me the case.

"Great," I said as I started up the movie and fast forwarded through all of the credits until the movie was at the beginning and then paused it, leaving the screen at the first scene of an old church. I wanted to wait until we got the pizza to start the movie.

I stood up from my place in front of the TV to look at Mello, who was lounging on the couch in his usual position. "Do you want something to drink?" I asked him.

"Maybe just a cup of water," He said dismissively, shrugging his shoulders.

I nodded and went into the kitchen, pouring him a glass of iced water and grabbed myself a crystal Pepsi before heading back into the living room. I was about to sit down on the couch beside Mello when the doorbell rang. Pizza's here! I set my soda down on the coffee table before I headed over to the front door to get our pizza, experiencing a light déjà vu moment from I first met Mello's parents.

I opened the door to find a short, brown haired girl with blue eyes. She was dressed in the pizzeria's customary clothing and held a white paper bag that also had the pizza shop's logo on it.

"Hello, here's your pizza. That'll be 35 dollars." She spoke cheerfully, handing me the bag.

"Thanks." I responded and took it, shuffling through my jeans pocket I pulled out two twenty dollar bills and handed them to her. "Keep the change," I told her with mild friendliness and a bland smile so she didn't get the wrong idea, and I closed the door after a few quick 'goodbyes'.

I made the quick trip into the living room again and plopped down beside Mello, setting the pizzas on the table.

"Here we go," I said as I made quick work of opening both boxes and setting them so they could easily be reached.

I handed Mello a slice of chicken pizza before I pressed play on the TV remote, and leaned back with my own slice; shuffling around a little on the couch to get comfortable, and when I did I settled with one of my knee's against my chest, the other laying on the coffee table and my body leaning partially on Mello, he didn't mind and accommodated me by resting an arm around my shoulder.

The movie started out with the first scene of Michael sitting in an almost church-like building writing in a journal, he spoke about how he was with a strain of detectives, and one of the top detectives who died a few years ago told him this story. The scene shifted to a bigger city scene and Naomi just getting resigned from the FBI for not being able to shoot a child who was an associate of a Mafia syndicate.

The movie went on and Mello and I didn't talk much, instead we were munching on pizza and holding each other. During the more relaxing parts Mello would play with my hair a little, which felt really nice, and whenever a more complicated scene would appear he would watch it with interest. I figured he found it to be pretty good considering he didn't find anything to criticize about it, like I had expected he would.

By the time the credits rolled down the screen half of each box of pizza was gone and both of our drinks were empty.

"That was actually way better than I'd expected," He admitted as I paused the movie, not caring to watch the credits.

"So I proved you wrong?" I teased, a smile appearing on my face.

"Yes, you did," He said and placed a small kiss on my lips that I returned easily, relishing in the warmth of his body. I chuckled against his lips a little and slipped my arms around his neck, pressing my lips against his again, but this time with a little more force.

I pulled back after a few seconds "You know, I don't think most people make out after watching a horror movie." I chuckled.

"Oh, shut up, the genre doesn't matter when I feel like kissing you" He laughed, and pushed me down on the couch, earning an embarrassingly girly squeak from me before he pressed his lips against mine again and ran his hands down my waist until they rested on my hips, straddling me to the couch. "Besides, we aren't most people anyway." Me spoke slyly.

My breathing increased under his weight as my face flushed with warmth and I ran my hands through his hair, enjoying the silky feeling of his blond tresses. I felt him nibble my lower lip lightly and I automatically opened my mouth in response, letting him kiss me even deeper.

We continued like this for awhile, breaking apart when we needed to take a breath, but each time we did when we went back we pressed our bodies closer to each other, leaving no room in between us. I didn't want to ever let him go, the feeling of his hands on my skin, his lips against mine, it felt so amazing. We were in sync with each other, every movement easily predicted between us, to the point that we could tell what the other would do before we even thought to do it.

But I knew we wouldn't be able to stop if we continued any longer, so eventually I slowed down our pace and pulled back with a last light kiss against his lips, pulling us both up to a sitting position with my hands around his waist. "We should stop before..." I tried to speak, but I still didn't have control over my breathing, but Mello understood what I meant and nodded, placing one last kiss on my lips, before pulling back and resting his head above mine.

"I think I like you more than I let on." He sighed against my forehead where his head was resting.

I felt myself smile as he reached a hand up to play with my hair. "I think I feel the same way." I responded honestly, and closed my eyes while letting out a relaxed breath.


	9. Ich Liebe Dich

It's uncool how cliché I looked, tapping on the table and staring at my watch while I waited for my date (aka Mello) to show up at the restaurant we decided to meet up at. Yesterday night, Mello and I watched a few more movies and then, and after we decided it was late, Mello went back home; but not before we (finally!) traded phone numbers and decided to meet today at lunchtime for coffee and to just hang out. That being said, Mello is now officially 22 minutes (and counting) late. Not that I minded too much, I've only gone through two and a half cups of coffee while waiting.

Sigh, the things I do for love.

Last night, I came to a realization. Even when Mello'd said my fairytale explanation of the depth of the feelings I felt for him was stupid, it really is not. Mello and I are so different, from each other as well as from other people. I mean, I have never ever found anybody attractive (except myself; but we aren't talking about that now, are we?) and I've never wanted to be friends with anybody; and I certainly would never have tolerated waiting for someone who is late for a date, I'd probably just up and leave after 5 minutes of waiting. Most of all, I have never felt so right like the way I do when I am with him. What I'm trying to say is, I am absolutely certain that this is not just some stupid teen romance-y fascination. I really do enjoy being around Mello, and it's not just an attraction. I can be myself without having to conform to stupid societal expectations weighing me down.

I can't really explain how I feel around him, really the only word that comes to my mind to describe the feeling is 'right', and that doesn't really explain everything to you, does it? Like, I trust him with my freaking life.

I love him, despite all his shortcomings.

Yet it still seems so absurd! Is this what it is like when you really do love somebody? I feel like I'm in some sappy Shakespearean play or some shit.

Holy...I am totally in love with Mello!

I laughed slightly (and I probably looked like an utter lunatic to all the other people around me, but whatever); I have only known Mello for a little over a week, yet it doesn't really seem like a problem at all. Really, what does time matter when you feel this way about someone? All those stupid quotes on love make so much sense to me now.

"What's so funny?"

Mello's voice startled me out of my thoughts, and I turned around in my chair in surprise.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about us," I said, with a cheeky grin.

"What naughty thoughts have you been entertaining in that cute head of yours?" He smirked. What a saucy boy.

"You're late," I remarked, not spitefully, but cheerfully for some reason I couldn't even fathom.

Mello looked down at the table, and he seemed a little embarrassed when he said, "My parents wanted to give me a talk about my career and when I said I didn't want to talk about it, they asked me where I wanted to go to in such a hurry...so yeah,"

"Damn! That's fine, I don't mind," I told him, not wanting to make him feel bad, even though he wouldn't show it if he did.

"So, how late am I?"

"Um," I looked at my watch. "About half an hour,"

It was 31 minutes, but I wanted to show off my cool side to him today, and that wasn't the best way to look cool, right?

"Huh, you've probably already had a few cups of coffee by now, so," he pointed to my empty coffee cup, "Err, do you want to go do something else?" He asked me a little awkwardly.

"Uh yeah, I did have quite a bit of coffee, so how about we just walk around a bit? There's a park near here,"

"Sure," He stood up, grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and then we left the shop, our hands still held together.

"This way," I led the way left down the fairly busy street till we reached our destination. We were in a pretty leisurely area in LA, kind of a reserved quiet spot for those who live wealthier lives; so it wasn't so crowded that we couldn't talk as we walked towards the park.

"So...you want to be a detective, don't you?" I asked him curiously, and to strike up a conversation. It was so cute to watch him perk up a little at the mention of his future career.

"Yeah, my parents want me to be an administrator in the agency like the rest of my family, but I don't want to just sit behind a desk all day sorting out who could work for us. I want to solve crimes, like L."

"L?" I couldn't quite place the title.

He looked at me disbelievingly "You don't know who L is?"

I shook my head. "Gamer, remember?"

"Oh, right. L is a world class detective, the best of the best; and he came out of my family's agency. That's why my family is so popular. But you know what? That is absolute bullshit; L is the only success to make it through my family's agencies. I want to be the next success, and maybe even work alongside L one day." He explained determinedly, and I could see how much it meant to him.

"Really, I don't know much about this stuff, but it sounds pretty badass," I said, not faking my enthusiasm.

"It is." He assured me, "And what about you?"

If I was asked that a year ago I wouldn't have had an answer, but now I have a much better idea, even if it isn't so clear. "I am planning on taking an online hacking and computer technology course, but I am not sure what I am going to focus on in that area,"

He snorted, "Typical."

"Yep, you know me too well, and you barely know me," I joked.

"Yeah, what are we going to tell family members in the future about how we met? It really is an odd situation," Mello pondered.

"Tell them it's complicated," I told him as I grabbed his hand and landed a quick peck on his cheek, Mello smiled at me in return.

"Puppy." He mumbled under his breath with amusement.

"That one's gonna get old pretty soon, you know,"

"I guess I will have to find new ways to make it interesting," He mocked with a wide smirk, and I blushed hotly as soon as I caught on to the innuendo and ducked my head in embarrassment. But that brought a question to the surface of my mind.

"Did I embarrass you?" He spoke in mock concern.

Hah! You wish.

"Um, Mello?"

"What's it?"

"It's just," I could feel my face heating up as I asked him; "Are you...you know, not a virgin?" I was about to explain further when he stayed silent for a few seconds until he started laughing.

I gave him a confused and embarrassed look. "What?"

"Nothing. No, I'm not; I am assuming you are, though."

"Uh, yeah," I ducked my head again, "Actually I have never even dated somebody," I admitted.

"Seriously?"

"Mmhm. I kissed a girl when I was 15, but I never experienced anything more. In fact, I didn't actually like it all that much, so I have never had any interest in girls, or guys for that matter since then," I explained, deciding I might as well tell him.

"Oh," He said in understanding "You're like the opposite of me, except I kind of always knew I was gay." He informed me, filling in a few of my own questions for me with that sentence.

"Ah, so Jure...?" Now is as good a time as ever to ask him that question.

Now it was Mello's turn to blush a little, only a little though. "Jure and I have been best friends since we were kids; we did experiment when we were in high school, but we were nothing more." He said, clearly reminiscing about his old friend.

For some reason I actually didn't feel jealous about that, not at all like how it is said to be when you are in relationships. It just didn't bother me. Of course it would've pissed me off if they were still together or something, but I trust that Mello wouldn't lie about that.

"I see,"

"You're not bothered about that or anything?" Wow, I just finished thinking about it. Y'know what they say, great minds think alike.

"No, not in the slightest; as long as it's over and there is nothing to worry about." I told him.

He smiled "I really do like you. Some guys would make a fuss over it,"

Finally someone realizes what an awesome boyfriend I am.

"Well I'm not one of them," I chuckled.

"No you really aren't. I'm not sure how you put up with me, actually; I have been told I come with a lot of baggage."

I shrugged, "Small prices,"

"To bad we are in public..." He mumbled, clearly insinuating what he wanted to do and making me blush again. What? I'm totally unused to this side of him.

"Anyway, Mello..." I said, wanting to clear something up that had been bugging me.

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's just...your parents..." I trailed off, unsure of how to continue, so I just hoped that he would fill in the spaces there.

"I don't want to deal with them, I just want to move out already and leave them behind," He stated icily. Wow, what a quick change in his demeanour. I just want us to go back to the camaraderie we had like, ten seconds ago. But I have to plod on.

"I know that's what you want to do, but have you had a conversation with them about how you feel without anybody raising their voices or anything?"

He snorted. "They hate who I am. That's just how it is, there is no getting around it."

"Yeah, but my parents are generally going to come to terms with the idea, and I wanted your folks to be on board with us being together. I mean, obviously, just because my parents were okay with it doesn't mean your parents should be okay with it too; but I'd like it if we went and tried to talk them into accepting us, it probably won't affect us -and more importantly, you- anymore than it already does, right?" Truth is, though we haven't spoken about it, I could tell how much it hurts Mello that his parents dislike him like so, even if he doesn't acknowledge it. That kind of thing affects everybody one way or another and I would like to be able to see Mello on a friendly level with his parents in the future.

Mello stayed silent for awhile and I was worried that I shouldn't have brought it up, until he spoke again. "If you really want me to, I will; but you definitely have to come with me okay?"

"Of course, that is what I was thinking," I smiled.

"But it won't go as well as you are planning, Mattie," He sounded disdainful.

"If it doesn't, then we can forget all about your parents, okay? Let's just try and see. Like I said before, how will it affect us anymore than it already does?"

He shook his head with a sigh. "If you say so; I'd rather just leave it as it is though,"

"Hey, it's okay," I told him slightly more cheerfully, trying to lighten his now dampened mood. "Both of your parents will be home at about two, right? Let's go get some ice cream and go to the pet store for awhile. Then, we'll go see them, how does that sound?" I said gave him a light kiss.

"Okay, but why do we need to go to a pet store?"

"We'll need a cat to even out your mood," I chuckled only to earn a firm shove in the shoulder by Mello.

"How about another puppy so you can be friends with it?" He teased in retaliation.

"Sounds good," I laughed

"Are you serious?" He questioned me with a dubious look on his face.

"Am I?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, because dogs are a pain." He stated.

Ooh, we have a serious cat person right here. Thank god I don't mind one way or another.

"Fine then," I mock pouted and dragged him in the direction of the nearest ice cream shop.

XXX

"See, it's adorable!" I held up a fluffy orange kitten to the ever-reluctant Mello.

About an hour after we got ice cream we headed off to the pet shop, though Mello seemed very reluctant. Honestly I would like a pet of sorts, but only if Mello agreed, so I was relying on that a bit. So now I was holding up an orange tabby kitten to Mello.

He glared at me for about one second (before realizing I knew how his mind worked most of the time and gave up) then gave a resigned sigh and took it gingerly.

"It's really not that cute," He drawled as he held the kitten awkwardly in his arms, stroking it's ear lightly so it would stay still.

"Whatever. Put it down then," I told him dejectedly as I reached into the cage and pulled out a fluffy black kitten "By the way, we could start looking around for an apartment to rent; we only have six months before we move out,"

"Yeah, we should get started right now if we want to get a hold on something nice that we can afford," He said distractedly and he frowned down at the kitten who had a firm grip on his finger and wouldn't let go, purring contentedly all the while.

It was a really pretty sight to see Mello all flustered and trying not to show it.

"So, what's his name?" I asked him, noting how he didn't want to put the kitten down.

"Huh?" He looked up at me.

"What's that little guy's name?"

"I don't know, Ginger, for all I care," He responded, withdrawing his hand and letting the kitten clumsily (but carefully) tumble back into its cage.

"Aw, you really don't like him?" I asked him, pouting.

"No, not really. Now come on, we should get going soon." He said as his stood up from his place on the floor.

"Alright, sounds good," I responded and put my own kitten back into the cage before closing the door and standing up as well. "Thanks for letting us visit," I said as I waved to the employees of the pet shop and followed Mello out the door, earning a few pleasant goodbyes from them.

"I don't like cats," He mumbled as we stepped onto the sidewalk and tried to hail a taxi.

"You didn't seem to mind that one," I responded.

He only huffed as a taxi pulled up beside us and entered the car with a quick "1420 Bird Street, Robin Drive," thrown at the driver as I sat down beside him

"Hey, I was wondering what it's like in Slovenia," I spoke after a few minutes of driving in silence.

"Well.. it's definitely not like here. It is way prettier, even for someplace in the countryside. I lived in a small town, so I didn't get to see many of the cities." He told me.

"Do you miss it?"

"Well, I was pretty pissed when my parents told me we were moving."

What a shocker. Mello is such a sourpatch, I'd be more surprised if he wasn't pissed off about this.

"I could easily imagine that scenario," I mumbled thoughtfully.

"Hehe, yeah. I threw a fit. Actually, I had almost convinced them to stay..."

"Yeah, so why did you move out here?" I asked him, recalling my earlier question.

I noticed him hesitate a little before he spoke. "My parents kinda caused some trouble with the family business in the past; rejected it, if you will. So, with most of the family living in Slovenia, we weren't the most popular people in town. My parents figured we should just get a new start and chose LA," He explained.

"So it was really just to avoid rumors and drama?"

"Yep, so what do you intend to tell my parents?" He asked me, his look a little distant now. I knew he just doesn't like talking with his parents, and this could do more harm than good. But I had to try, I just wanted to see what the situation really is and hopefully they would come to a little bit more of an understanding.

"I don't really have a plan," I realized (thank god Mello decided to ask me about this, what if I'd just remembered that I didn't have a plan when I was standing at the doorway to The Louvre..erm, I mean Mello's house), earning a snort from Mello, who in turn only rested his head on the window and stared at the passing traffic.

Taking that as the end of this conversation, and easily being able to tell that Mello was, in fact nervous, I followed suit and stared out the window as we drove along the road.

What would I tell his parents? I didn't have a clue, of course I could tell them that Mello and I are together, but that would just make them angry. I guess I'll gauge the situation and just let it come to me as I went. It wasn't like I was cool as a cucumber about the aspect of facing Mello's not-homophobic-and-not-condescending-at-all parents.

The taxi soon parked up to Mello's mansion-like house and I made sure to pay the driver a good amount before we exited and soon enough we were walking up the driveway to his house, both of us nervous -as expected. This time, knocking on the door was not necessary considering Mello has been here for at least a little while, so we simply entered without knocking.

The inside was just like I remember, with all of the fancy paintings, flowers and their vases, and the like. We didn't need to take off our shoes like we would have had to in my house, as the maids cleaned regularly. Hiring a maid at my place sounds like a great plan right about now. Maybe I should go home and...okay, I'm not going to be a wimp.

"Mello, welcome back." A younger brunette greeted us after we stepped inside, dressed in a formal white button-up shirt, black Capri pants and had a waist belt to carry whatever minor items she had, her hair was brushed back into a ponytail and overall she looked friendly, if not a little tired.

Could this be a real, honest-to-goodness, live butler?! Good heavens, what am I going to witness next? The Queen of England descending down the staircase?

Mello only nodded in response to her before saying, "Can you ask my Mother and Father to meet us in the living room?"

"Oh, of course. Would you like to give them a reason?" She asked politely.

"No, just tell them to come," He drawled and continued walking down the extensive hallway, with me following suit.

Damn, this place looks like a burglar's wet dream.

We came into their living room, that I easily recognized as everything was the same as before, if not a bit more immaculate. Beige couches surrounded a large coffee table, with plants hung along the plaster walls, a burgundy rug lay across the main walkway, and some idle lounge chairs here and there. I noticed one thing different though, and that was a chess board set off to the side, and obviously a very expensive one at that. I could tell each piece was made of silver, with gems of some sorts on each one, whereas the board itself was made of marble. Usually, I wouldn't consider this set a match made in heaven, but somehow this one managed to work quite well indeed.

"Matt," Mello's voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I realized I had been nearly gawking at their house again.

"Sorry," I apologized, "It just looks so cool in here," well, that sounded childish, but that was the truth. This house was magnificently opulent (if the fact that they had statues and water fountains indoor didn't indicate that to you) as opposed to the modernistic and minimalistic decor found in most other houses. Probably because in Slovenia their decor was less modern than in LA, so they would have different tastes.

Mello sighed and took a seat at one of the couches, "You have already been here; what's so impressive about it?"

Is this dude for real? Seriously?

"Everything, you rich twat," I grinned, and took a seat beside Mello, "I didn't pay quite as much attention to it before; y'know, what with me trying not to piss my pants when your Mom was facing me off. Either way, the feel I get here is way different from what I get in other houses in LA. Plus, you have a butler."

"Huh, I guess I kind of got that feel about your house too; I had lived in Slovenia all my life, so I'm just used to this," He spoke absentmindedly.

"Did you set up your bedroom yet?" I asked him, curious about how he would decorate his room. Mine is pretty basic, with computer parts and old clothes strewn about. My room basically tells everything about me, but I had no idea about Mello's room.

I half expected it to have black walls and a bookshelf filled with books on criminology and detective stuff, but in a way that was quietly luxurious.

"Uh yeah, I did. We can go up there if you want to after this. We should look around for places to rent anyway."

"Sounds good," I said; and just then, footsteps could be heard heading towards the room we were in.

The Kheels entered the room in single file, Eric looking slightly confused at seeing the two of us, and Angela looking borderline suspicious.

"What's going on, Mihael? And why is Matt here?" She said as she followed Eric into the room. The latter took a seat on the couch adjacent us.

To my surprise, Mello spoke up first. "We need to have a talk with you," He stated firmly, leaving no room for them to argue even if they wanted to leave. Oh god, I have a feeling this is going to get real ugly real soon. I should have wimped out when I had the chance, damnit.

Nah, Mello needs this. And Mello needs me to get through with this.

Damn.

"Alright, what is this about?" His Father questioned, sending me a faint glare.

Hey, what's the big idea? Mello just started talking, for god's sake!

So I spoke up, "We want to talk to you about Mello, really," I told them, my voice an octave higher than I would have liked, making me sound much less firm than Mello and more nervous.

"What about Mihael?" Angela questioned, using his given name to make a point.

"We wanted to talk to you about me being gay, and Matt-" Mello started, only to be cut off by me because I'd realized that his tone was going on the defensive side.

"-I didn't want to leave things as they are with you and Mello," I told them, and watched their expressions change into something unreadable. Angela's mouth made an 'O' as she leaned back in her seat.

Suddenly the room became awkward and Mello and I had no idea what to say next. His parents were mulling over whatever questions they had before Eric spoke again, "You and Matt are together?" He asked Mello pointedly.

"Yes, we are," Mello responded.

"We told you that you are not allowed to date other guys," Angela cut in, "It is bad for publicity and goes against everything that we follow. You know this, Mihael."

Woah, what the hell did she mean by that?! Did she want him to remain celibate his whole life and never date anyone? Is she really such a homophobe?

...she probably is.

And then I remembered Mello's rosary and put two and two together. "Is this because of religion?" I asked, cutting in, I probably sounded almost rude. But I needed to clarify.

"Yes, we are Catholics and in our religion, loving another of the same gender is a sin," She nodded sagely.

I didn't know much about religion but the basics, but that little fact went against whatever I did know about religion.

"But, shouldn't god be proud if someone loves another unconditionally enough that they would sin to be together with them?" I asked them, to earn borderline glares from his parents.

"Matt, you do not understand what it means to follow god. No, god would not be proud even if you loved that person to the moon and back if they belonged to the same gender as you, because it is a sin." Angela told me bitterly.

Wow, I felt like I was going up against a teacher.

"Matt's right," Mello stated, "God loves everyone, no matter what. I know you mainly dislike what I am because of religion, but since that is clearly stated, as long as two people are in love it is not as much a sin, as it is just love. I don't think there is any reason for god to shun someone just for this sake."

"Why exactly are you talking to us about this? We aren't going to change the beliefs we've held throughout our entire lives just because you ask us to," Angela told me, ignoring Mello's conclusion.

And that was another dick move perfectly executed by Angela! One would almost wonder how she was such a pro at this. Oh right, because she is a biatch, that's why.

"We are not asking you to change your belief system, just bend it a bit," I said slowly. There was the one thing I wanted to say, but I knew Mello wouldn't like it if I did (considering how it wasn't something he told me about and in fact, shied away from discussing it even subconsciously. I only knew it because I understood Mello so well), and that was about how he was affected by how they treat him.

"Matt, our family can't have someone like this in it. This is just wrong," Eric spoke up again after quite a hiatus, "I know that you don't understand religion, so you don't know what it means when we say it is wrong."

"I think I understand enough to know how it affects someone when they are rejected by their family." Well, lookie here, I finally did say it. My statement earned a disbelieving look from Mello, and confused looks from his parents.

"Matt?" Mello questioned me. I expect he never thought I'd pick up on it in his wildest dreams.

"Explain, Matt." Angela said (ordered) as she leaned forward in her seat.

Well, that puts me in quite a tough spot. I didn't want to talk about Mello's feelings without his consent, but this was the only way I could think of that would change their prejudiced views on Mello just being himself. I cast a look at Mello, hoping that he'd pick up on my distress signal and just explain this part himself, but he only looked dumbfounded and more than a little nervous now. Oh, crap.

Just before I was going to explain it, Mello (thankfully) spoke up for himself.

"Matt means how I feel," He said slowly and nervously, but his voice was slowly gaining confidence, "How I feel when you...reject me and treat me like a failure."

I wasn't surprised when I heard how he became more and more heated as he delved deeper into his repressed emotions, and maybe almost a little proud, strangely enough.

Angela and Eric looked confused because they never thought he would ever say something like that, and angry because what he said is right, and annoyed because they also realized that that was there mistake, and that Mello was right. They didn't know what to say, but I could tell that they were trying to process it.

"Well? Do you not have anything to say?" Mello asked them pointedly. He was angry. Very, Very angry and progressing slowly.

"We..." Angela tried, and failed.

They knew what we meant, and they probably started to realize how wrong they've been, so they didn't know how to react.

Eric eventually spoke up. "Mihael, I'm sorry." He paused, Mello waiting in silence for his explanation. "We didn't know we made you feel that way."

Mello raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you didn't know?" He said sarcastically, his voice rising, "You didn't know that you actually bullied your son for who he is? Just because I am gay you pushed me away, and you didn't realize till Matt, someone you barely even know, pointed it out?!" By then he was borderline shouting.

"Mello, calm down," I cut in, sending him a soothing glance.

"I'm calm," he stated through gritted teeth. Yeah right, clearly he was trying to contain a lot of emotions.

"Mihael..." Angela started, regaining her words. "I didn't realize until now that this is how you felt, I admit that. I'm sorry, but can't you understand how we feel about this?"

"No," He told her, "I don't understand how you can't just accept your son for who he is."

I picked it up then, all of the little bits of their prolonged emotional battle. How this went on for so long; with them rejecting Mello, and them not noticing how much it affected him be of how he unintentionally hid it from them as he has a hard time expressing how he feels, and generally ends up turning all of his feelings into anger and lashing out at everything.

I then realized what exactly the situation was, his parents simply didn't have the time to deal with his already eccentric way of showing his emotions and simultaneously trying to fit him into the person they want him to be. Really, they were ignorant of him in every way, and the fault probably lay in the way they were raised themselves. Another thing, Mello somehow finally managed to tell them exactly how he felt right now; how did he finally get up some courage to show his emotions freely in another way besides anger? That was the one thing I didn't have the answer to.

Or I did...

"I get it, Mihael; but I can't accept it just like that. Ever since I was a child, I was told it is wrong," She sounded like she was subtly pleading with him to understand her stance on this. And as expected, I was right about her childhood.

"I was born this way, Mother; do you expect me to marry a woman even if I don't love her, and if I do not marry a woman, to be rejected and alienated completely by my own family?" Mello asked her spitefully.

"That is what we want...but..." Angela tried to explain, indecisively.

"If I may," I spoke up, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Mello and I are going to move out together in February. Really, if we could all just be on friendly terms, even though I realize it is not all that simple, that would be fine." I chose my words carefully, noting their surprised expressions.

"Mihael, I..." Angela started again.

Angela really needs to learn to finish her bloody sentences.

"Mihael, if you and Matt wish to do that, then you can. As you are soon going to be of legal age, we cannot stop you. And, like Matt said, we cannot just believe it is okay for you to be gay in a matter of minutes. But, I think we can try," Eric told us slowly but surely. I was glad, considering Angela couldn't seem to place her thoughts. "Is that okay with you, Angela?" He asked. "Let's just give it time, shall we?"

"Yes, I think it's fine," She said, looking a little rattled.

Mello looked, unreadable at best. I could only guess what was going through his head, after however many fights with his parents about this that went down badly.

The fact that I was here probably helped them to agree though, as they would have wanted to make a good impression on me, an outsider to their family.

Eric stood up with a light cough "I'm sorry, but we'll have to cut this short as I have a meeting in the office about a case in about thirty minutes." He said apologetically. "But Mihael," He said, catching Mello's attention, "I don't hate you, I just have a hard time accepting ways different than my own, and I'm sorry for that."

Well, that was actually quite decent of Eric to say that.

Mello didn't respond and only stared at him for a few seconds, and then looked down. When Eric got the hint that Mello wasn't going to grace him with a reply, he gave a short nod to me and headed for the exit of the living room. It was just as he almost left the living room that Mello spoke.

"My name's Mello, not Mihael." He stated, causing Eric to turn around with a disapproving scowl.

"Mello's a nickname...but alright," He agreed, "Goodbye Matt and...Mello."

After another brief pause, when Mello didn't say anything else, he exited the room.

Angela stood up then, "I don't like it, Mihael, and you know it. But I will follow my husband's lead and do my best, okay?"

"Sure," He said dismissively.

She frowned and turned to me, "So uh, thank you for the visit, Matt. Um, I talked to your Mother earlier today, and after she gets back from the surgery I would like to host a dinner for us all, if that would be alright,"

"That would be great, I am sure my Mother would appreciate it." I told her with a smile.

It felt weird to start being polite neighbours again after all this deeply personal drama went down, but I'm not complaining.

"Alright then. Goodbye, boys." She said with a wave and went out the same way Eric did.

When they were both far down the hall, I finally spoke, as Mello seemed very silent. "That went okay, you know."

He let out a long sigh and rubbed at his face, and I finally realized the source of his silence. "Yeah, I guess..."

"Hey," I scooted over on the couch and pulled him into my arms; he resisted at first, but relaxed quite quickly. I didn't say anything else, only keeping silent as I knew he was quite upset with his face buried in my arms.

"They've never ever even listened to me," He mumbled against my arm.

I hummed in acknowledgement, but otherwise stayed silent.

"Or been nice to me even once. They even said sorry. I don't get it, how did they not realize how I felt until you said it?"

"Because you hide your emotions too much," I told him softly.

He turned around in my arms to look at me, his eyes slightly puffy from just barely crying.

"I'm sorry," he said abruptly, his voice almost cracking.

I blinked at him in surprise, "Why?"

"Because I never apologized for being late,"

"That's no big deal, I didn't mind at all. I needed all that coffee to calm me down for this," I chuckled.

He sat up, wiping at his eyes a little before looking at me intensely.

"What?" I asked him confused at the intense stare.

He shook his head as he leaned over me placing a chaste kiss to my lips, a much more meaningful kiss than the others, no movement, just his lips against mine. Soft, loving and more meaningful than anything else he has ever done, that kiss was filled with his every emotion, and told me all of his feelings just from the small gesture.

He pulled back after a few minutes. "Thank you."

I smiled. "I love you."

He looked surprised for a second before responding "Ich liebe dich auch, Mattie."

I gave him a confused look for a moment before finally figuring out what he'd said. Oh, wow. Now I realize the novelty of being in love. He grinned, seeing that I figured it out and placed another kiss to my lips, a quicker one than before but still loving, and pulled me up from the couch.

"Let's go up to my room," He told me.

Oooh.

I blushed for a moment before I realized what he meant (how embarrassing!) and hid my face as I said, "Okay."

He chuckled lightly, "To check out apartments, silly. Now come on," he said and led the way out of the hallway and up a few tiresome flights of stairs.

I regained my composure from the embarrassment by the time we ended up on the third floor, and he led us to the end of the hallway until we stopped in front of a cedar wood door, with a silver plaque that read 'Mihael' on it.

"Here we are," He told me and slid open the door, leading me inside.

I couldn't do much but gawk at his bedroom, his house was one thing, but his room was another. Firstly, it was huge, the size of my living room. It had cedar floors, with burgundy walls and grey trim. Grey curtains covered the windows, letting in almost no sunlight, but enough to see everything in the room.

Straight ahead were two big windows with a bed in-between them, a king sized bed with an overdue amount of pillows on it all either black or gray; it looked extremely comfy. A blue rug was laid out across the floor from the doorway to the foot of the bed, and to each side of the room lie a bookcase, each probably eight to ten feet wide and tall, and both of them were stuffed full of books on all sorts of things, like encyclopedias, criminology textbooks, a few detective novels, and a few other types.

Wow, my guess was mostly right.

A computer desk lay closer to the door, with two monitors on it, indicating that he really was a bit of a technology freak. Well, I was in no place to comment on that, if I get any sort of career in technology I would probably have up to five monitors at once. Maybe more.

There were a few other things in the room (obviously); for one, there was a white-board with all sorts of images tacked to it, indicating crimes and seeming to follow most of L's recent cases, I recognized a few cases that Mello'd mentioned earlier today. A little away from that, was another chess board, though this one was pure white and cerulean black (almost ebony). The board and pieces were immaculate and very well taken care of. I wondered if this one as well as the set downstairs were both his. It would make sense, as I hadn't seen the other one when I was here before, though I don't see why it was left downstairs.

Aside from those, there were also some paintings and posters, but nothing that I particularly thought Mello deemed important so I dismissed them.

On the other side of the room was a black leather couch with a coffee table in front of it, though one thing that caught my attention there was the zebra print throw blanket, the reason Mello would keep that was a mystery to me. The second thing that caught my attention was a picture frame on the table, but I couldn't see what was in it from the angle.

Mello shut the door behind me, and then walked over to his computer.

"You can sit wherever you'd like; I have a laptop we can use," He told me absentmindedly, as he opened one of his desk drawers. I nodded and went over to the couch, still curious about that picture.

When I sat down at the couch, I immediately brought my attention the picture. It was of Mello when he was a kid, maybe seven or eight. He didn't look much different from now, except his hair was a little shorter, and he was wearing a black flannel long-sleeve shirt. He was a pretty cute kid, that was for sure; but there was another boy beside him, holding onto his arm nervously with a sheepish smile on his face; whereas Mello was grinning. This boy was odd looking at best; though he did resemble Mello, they were clearly complete opposites. This boy was wearing all white. Head to toe, even his hair, which was short and fairly curly, was pure white. He would have looked albino creepily albino, but his eyes weren't light (or red), just a dark gray. He was also fairly shorter than Mello, by at least a foot, and was probably younger too.

"Hey, Mells, who's this?" I asked him when he walked over, holding the laptop.

He sat down beside me and placed the device down before he responded.

"That's Near," He said vaguely, a hint of bemusement in his voice as he opened the lid to the laptop and pressed to button to turn it on.

"Near?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I haven't seen him since that picture was taken, actually. He's my cousin, believe it or not. I guess he ended up in an orphanage founded by L when he was just about three years old, he had spent a few months with my family." He shrugged and typed in his computer password. "He's a big headed twit if you ask me, always thinks he knows everything, then throws a fit when he's wrong."

I chuckled, "Why do you have a picture of him, then?"

He leaned back on the couch. "I suppose that's the only picture I was actually smiling in without having to force it. Don't know why, though." He told me.

"Huh," Is all I said in acknowledgement, interested by that little piece of information.

"Oh, yeah," He suddenly said, making me look away from his younger, gleeful self and back at him.

"Hm?"

"Well, I was thinking, since you wanted to do something with computers, and I want to be a detective, what would you think if you got into hacking, and then we could work together on cases? You do the technology side of things and I do the detective work."

"Really?" I asked him, dumbfounded. "I- I mean yes! I would love that." I told him excitedly.

"Awesome!" He grinned.

I grinned back.


	10. We're moving

I pulled on my Converses before rushing out the door to catch up with my parents, slowing to a walk as I caught up with Mom.

Three days ago, Mom was discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health after they'd removed her brain tumor successfully. Though she'll have to go for a few checkups at the hospital every three weeks from now on, it's not all that much different from before. That is, aside from how _tired_ she is now. I really wished I could do something about it; seeing her sleeping in, barely managing to drag herself around the house in the mornings and zoning out all of the time, but there really wasn't much I could do.

A day after the confrontation with Mello's parents, Angela had invited all of us over for dinner on Sunday. When I'd discussed about the two families meeting up, it turned out Mello was a little less than happy than I'd expected about having to spend a night eating food with all of us rather than studying. But then I found that he was the kind of person who was INTENSELY focused on whatever he did. If he was going to study, he'd go all out, studying until his eyes were bloodshot. I'd thought it was amusing until I literally saw him pass out from all the studying he did. He had quickly taken over the place of the top student in the school in barely over a week.

Suffice to say, for that reason I made sure he was all for the dinner.

Also, it was safe to say that Beyond and Mello didn't exactly hit it off at the beginning, but it looks like they've started to warm up to each other just a bit. When Mello first met Beyond, he asked him why he looked like L, to which Beyond merely grinned heartily and walked away after congratulating me about my boyfriend. Let's just say that that didn't serve as a great first impression on either of them.

The week was otherwise uneventful. Mello and I hung out at school, did homework together, not that we ever had much, and went out a few times. Mainly we just went for coffee or for a walk, but we had also gone for a movie on one occasion and a restaurant on the other. I had a nice week to say the least, what with Mom being back, and all the time I'd been spending with Mello, and generally just hanging around. I was happier than I have ever been for a long while, and I was certain that Mello felt the same way. From what I can tell, he hated it when he first came here, but now he was pretty happy as far as Mello goes.

"...what do you say, Matt?"

"Huh?" I turned to Mom, who'd been speaking to me while I wasn't paying any attention.

She frowned slightly, but patiently repeated what she had said. "What do you think about us moving into another one of the mansions on the street?"

That's when I remembered that I forgot to mention the plan Mello and I'd made to move out together after a while. So it was just the two of them resettling in another house and, in her current condition, I wouldn't advise it. Not to mention our current house is not very big or fancy, so we would have a hard time selling it and that would stress her out more which is totally unnecessary at this juncture. I didn't think moving would be the best decision right now. So I shook my head and said, "I don't think it's the best time for us to be moving. We need to take time for you to completely recover, and then there is the fact that it would be difficult to sell our house." I was unsure about whether I should tell her about Mello and my plans.

She nodded after thinking it over, "Yeah, I think you are right, Matt, we shouldn't move out for awhile at least; but eventually it would be a good idea."

I gave her an absentminded nod, because I'd been contemplating her reaction if I were to tell her about Mello and I moving out. Obviously she'd think that we were moving too fast, and it made sense too. I mean, our relationship was like two weeks old and we had already decided to _move out together_. Well, she wouldn't understand our feeling of kinship. And that brought a small frown to my face but it quickly disappeared as we neared Mello's house.

Mom rang the doorbell, knowing that they were expecting us and waited for a moment before Angela opened the door herself. She probably thought it would be best if she answered the door personally, instead of a maid. I would have to agree, it made a slightly better impression.

"Mrs. Jeevas, I'm glad you could make it," Angela greeted Mom from her place by the door. "You too, Mr. Jeevas...Matt," She added with a smile, her eyes lingering on me for a moment, though I didn't bother questioning it, She probably had a few questions in her mind that she wouldn't ask anyway. I smiled back at her in return.

"Me too," Mom said, returning Angela's smile.

"Well, come on in," She told us as she held the door open, stepping back a little. "Shoes are optional,"

"Thank you," Mom said, stepping inside the house. I followed suit as Dad entered the building. I still (though more discreetly now) marveled at their house. I had been here on several occasions now, but I still loved how it looked inside. I guess it reminded me of one of those detective games, where you were trapped in a luxurious manor and had to figure out the who the psycho killer was before they could get you; this place was built and decorated just like one of them, so I really liked it.

I took off my shoes this time, habitually placing them on the shoe rack that belonged to Mello, before I followed Mom, Dad and Angela through the halls. I couldn't help but smirk as Mom commented on their house, though Dad seemed a little less impressed with the building. We were just passing by one of the stairways of their mansion when I felt hands slide around my waist, startling me as I felt a puff of breath on my ear. I let out a small squeal that quickly turned into a chuckle as I realized who it was.

"Welcome," He purred into my ear, letting go of me just as my parents and his mom turned around to see what the minor commotion was, and then grabbed my hand with his own, earning a pleasant smile from me.

"How has your day been?" He asked me casually, a small smirk playing on his face, satisfied that he had startled me.

"It's been a good day," I told him, "You?"

"Hm," He looked thoughtful for a moment "It's been good, but then I found out that your friend Beyond goes to my church." He told me with a light scowl.

I chuckled, remembering Mello's religiousness briefly.

"I had no idea," I told him.

He nodded, turning to Mom now, "How have you been, Ms. Jeevas? I haven't seen you for awhile," He smiled a sincere smile at her.

Mom smiled genuinely, apparently she really didn't mind me and Mello being together now because unlike Dad, she almost had a pleased look on her face, like she was happy for me. This brought a slightly wider smile to my lips, "I am definitely better now, thank you Mello," She responded.

Basically we were having a major smile fest around here, each and every one of us smiling either genuinely or for courtesy's sake. The only one **not** smiling was that one maid lurking around the background minding her own business.

Mello then smirked and said to me, "Dinner won't be set for a few minutes yet and I want to show you something, so if you wouldn't mind following me into my bedroom..."

His suggestion made me blush a bit, but I could tell that he was just playing around, but clearly our parents didn't get the memo as they looked a little uncomfortable (Dad and Angela looked a bit offended too).

"'Kay," I agreed with a grin, earning an answering smug smile from Mello that gave me a fluttery feeling in my stomach. I loved when he smiled.

"C'mon," He dragged up the stairs that he had probably come down from, leaving our parents behind with conflicted expressions on their faces. I felt a little bad for them about that clear misunderstanding, but didn't sweat about it too much.

By the time we reached Mello's bedroom, I was panting a little from how he had dragged me up the four flights of stairs at nearly at the speed of light and I once again (like from all my past trips to his room) wondered why the hell he wanted his room on this godforsaken floor. I said so.

He only shrugged in response as he entered his room, leaving me pondering about what had him so excited, he has never particularly shown excitement towards anything in this way.

He didn't say anything as he pushed me into his computer chair, his laptop showing a screen that read, 'Los Angles, House for Sale.'

I looked at the title for a second before looking up at Mello in confusion.

"I thought we didn't have the funds to buy a house?" I questioned him, and he scowled a little.

"Read the rest," He told me with an eyeroll.

I did as he said compliantly, my eyes widening as I did so.

' _-For sale, 200,000$. Two bedrooms, two bath, living room, kitchen, basement, all appliances supplied. Note: If the tenant/s are with LAS university, the LAPD, Yuru' Corp or Algoens Corp tenant/s will receive 80% off of the original price and-'_

I looked back and forth between Mello and the ad for a few seconds before turning back to Mello and gaping at him for a second, before stuttering; "H-wh- How? This can't be right," disbelief was apparent in my voice.

Chances are, this house was haunted and they were just looking for potential idiots to buy this house out of the seller's hands. I mean, the damn house looked too good be available at such a price.

He smirked, "It is. I checked it out and got in contact with the guy, he's the head of some big business connected to the LAPD, LAS and those other two. Basically if the tenant is with any of them and was making them a profit he will give us a deal."

I took a second to process that before it hit me: Mello wanted to be a detective and if we both became sleuths, we could get this place. And though it should take us awhile to get ourselves set up with a job, Mello's confidence told me he had it all planned out. Hopefully this house wasn't haunted. Not taking a second glance at the computer I sat up from the chair and gave Mello a bear hug.

"You're brilliant," I told him, my voice muffled slightly by his shoulder as he returned the embrace.

"I know." He told me jokingly, chuckling slightly as he pulled me back, landing a firm kiss on my lips. "We should go down stairs now. But...you think it's a good idea?" He said uncertainly as he drew back.

I nodded, "It's much better than anything else we have found so far!"

Then a thought crossed my mind, making me to frown slightly.

"What's wrong?" He inquired, giving my arms a light squeeze as he looked at me with concern.

I looked downwards a little. "It's just that...my parents probably won't think that it's a good idea; us moving out together, I mean." I told him sullenly. Really, they wouldn't, even Mom wouldn't be gung-ho about it and I hated it when she's disappointed with me.

"Hey," Mello said softly, his hands nudging my face up so I was looking at him, "They will be fine, we can tell them tonight and if it goes bad, just remember that it can't stay bad, okay?" He told me encouragingly.

I nodded, "Yeah, I guess," I responded, unconvinced.

"Their reaction can't be that bad, I mean it wasn't even that much with my parents, yours should have little reason to react badly," He told me.

I guess he was right, at the least Mom would tell me she didn't like it and I wasn't allowed to, but by then I would be eighteen anyways and I could legally move out with or without their consent. But I just didn't like the prospect of her being upset with me, or disappointed, or anything of the like. He is right though, they wouldn't react that badly.

"I know, I guess I'm just...I don't know," I sighed.

"Mattie, look at the bright side," He said up, a grin playing on his face once again, "We are moving out together, we will be world famous detectives soon and we will have each other, doesn't that sound great? It will all work itself out."

I smiled; he was much more excited about the detective part than me, even if I did find it pretty exciting. The part that made me look forward to the most was the part about having each other. Actually on second thought, solving cases with him would probably be more than exciting. I leaned in towards him, placing a kiss on the side of his lips. "Yeah, it does," I chuckled, "Let's enjoy today for now and not worry about it," I decided.

"Alright, sounds good." he agreed, landing one last kiss right on my lips before we headed downstairs, this time slower, though we didn't really talk on the way.

By the time we arrived back downstairs, everyone was sitting down at the table in the dining room talking about whatever things they found interesting, though their attention went straight to us once we entered the room.

"Welcome back, boys," Angela said pleasantly, getting up from her seat.

Mello and I nodded in unison, each of us smiling politely as we took a seat at the end of the table.

"I will go tell the cooks that we are all here," She told no one in particular as she left the ornate room.

I took a moment to look at their dining room. It was nice, very nice; the table could probably comfortably cater to at least ten people, there were a few plants and vines hung along the walls, a few paintings and a burgundy rug positioned under the table, there was even a bay window on the opposite side of the room, letting the evening sunlight flood the room and giving it a slightly pleasanter vibe.

"So, Thomas," Eric spoke up, "I heard that you work for an industrial giant, can I ask which one?"

We can easily figure out that Dad and Eric became closer together, what with them addressing each other so informally and the way they were getting along quite well, discussing boring shit like stocks and stuff.

"I'm actually the CEO of Tokata Corp," Dad told him a little too gleefully. I knew Dad was proud of his work standing but I did agree (silently) that he was a tad bit too egotistical about it. Not that he shouldn't be proud, but he could be a little more modest about it sometimes.

Mello and I didn't have much to talk about so we settled for just staying quiet, though he did slip his hand into mine underneath the table, and gave it a light squeeze that brought a smile to my lips.

Mom was content with listening to both of our fathers talk about work, chipping in once in a while about Dad's accomplishments. Though I was still anxious about telling them that Mello and I are moving in together (like, I wanted to tell them _tonight_ ), I wasn't sure about it. I don't know how I had the guts to tell them that Mello and I were together, and that I was most probably gay, or demisexual or something, but I had done it on the preface that it would have to happen sometime. Not to mention it was a bit of a rushed day and I hadn't had much opportunity to think it over before I just did it. I suppose today should be no different, just pick a moment and say it, I decided. Though it didn't appease the apprehensive feeling in my stomach in the least.

Angela entering the room brought everyone's attention to her briefly, as she sat down beside Mom. "They said it'd take them about five minutes," She told us as she settled into her seat.

A moment of slightly awkward silence passed before Angela spoke up

"So Matt, what are you doing after high school?" She asked me casually.

"Um," My gazed flickered across to Dad, who was giving me a disapproving look, as he didn't like my future dreams that he was aware of one bit, he still didn't know about my latest (and hopefully final) decision on the topic. I glanced at Mello, silently asking him if I should tell them, and was returned with an affirmative nod. I took a deep breath and then said, "I've decided that I'm going to take a computer technology course, focusing on hacking. Then with that, Mello and I decided we would work together as detectives," I told them, and earned surprised looks from everyone but Mom who seemed to either have realized this somehow, or just wasn't surprised that I would take a route similar to this.

"I didn't know you and Mello would have decided to work together," Angela spoke up, her voice mildly surprised but also a little discerning. I only nodded in response.

"I'm glad you figured out what you want to do," Mom spoke in agreement, just before Dad chipped in condescendingly, "At least you're not designing video games anymore,"

"Mello, I thought you would have gone for operating a detective agency? What happened to that?" Mello's father questioned him, curiously but a little bit of disapproval was evident in his tone.

I looked over to Mello who I realized had sent Dad a very brief glare on my behalf (awww, that's so sweet of him!) before he turned to his own, "I never said that I wanted to be in an agency. If you had paid more attention, you would have noticed that I had no inclination towards administrative work. As soon as I finish this year of school, I'm going to be a detective; a detective even better than L." He told his father almost smugly, earning a disbelieving look from him.

"I wasn't aware that you wanted to be a detective yourself. I'd told you that I wanted you to create your own agency though. You're smart, you could handle it better than most people." He stated.

I knew that they wanted Mello to be in an agency, but I didn't know that they paid so little attention to his life that they didn't even know that Mello wanted to be a detective. It was a little disconcerting to see how disconnected he and his family are.

Mom cleared her throat loudly, catching the attention of Mello and Eric as they were well on their way to having a glaring contest. They looked at her in unison. "Eric, I think you should let your son do whatever he wants for his future career," She stated, earning a confused look from Eric, as he didn't seem to expect her speaking up.

"Mrs. Jeevas, no offence but I don't think this is really your place," He told her.

I noticed that even Angela realized that was rather impolite of him, as she looked a mix between embarrassed, annoyed, and just generally tense. I decided to speak up even though I was quite nervous about doing so.

"Does it really matter, that Mello wants to be a detective? I mean you wanted him to be the head of an agency, but being a detective is just as good if not better, especially if he does end up succeeding L, which knowing Mello, he will." I told them.

"Yes, I suppose so, but you have to understand that this is the first I have ever heard of it." He told me.

"Have you actually had an actual conversation on this subject?" I asked him, causing the air in the room to still as Angela and Eric realized the same thing they had one week ago.

"I see your point, Matt," Angela offered.

Eric nodded with a sigh, recognizing his mistake once again. At least they were trying to rectify their ways since we brought it up with them. "So do I. Mello, it's fine if you want to be a detective, you are free to pick whichever career you want after all, even though I would prefer you creating your own agency,"

I caught the slight smile that appeared on Mello's face, however brief it was before he nodded in thanks.

"Well, since we are on the topic of Mello and I," I started (why not finish off all the controversial topics at once, am I right?), catching everyone's attention once again. I saw how Mello gave me a surprised glance as he waited for me to continue, smiling lightly. "We're going to move in together in February," I told them. Cue more surprised looks from our parents.

"Matt-" Mom started, only to be cut off rather smoothly by Mello. I kinda knew what she would have argued.

"We know it's soon, but think about it this way. That's going to happen in six months, so we will have plenty of time to firmly decide if it's a good idea or not by the time. Though I guarantee you we will go through with it, we still have a long time in between to make further decisions," Mello told my parents.

"Um..." Mom seemed to be a little at loss for words, though I could tell she was processing it. A few moments passed, and I became tenser and uneasier and Mello's stance was bordering on challenging. Mello's parents looked like they wanted to say something, but they didn't seem like they were going to speak up about it any time soon. They had probably wanted to say something remotely in our favor, but decided against it as they knew my parents would be very offended with the Kheels knowing about our plans before them. Eventually Mom let out a huff.

"I give up. Whether I like it or not, you two will get your way. Nobody cannot stop you anymore, clearly." She looked me straight in the eyes, "You have my support in this matter."

Right as she said that, Dad shook his head and said, "Your mother is right. Whether I agree or not you will do it anyways, so who am I to argue? But one more surprise like this, and I'm disowning you. Got it?" he threatened mockingly, though he had a serious undertone in his voice.

I smiled, happy that they would be okay with it, out of all the things I thought would happen, I never expected it to go as easily as it did. I was happy, really happy.

"Thank you," I told them gratefully.

Mello's parents who were silent the whole time only spoke up now. "Mrs. Jeevas is right, there is no stopping you, especially considering you are going to be eighteen soon." She told us, and to my surprise let a small smile come over her lips afterwards, the first time I had seen an actual smile she'd directed at me. "I can't believe I'm in agreement with this, I must be getting old." She muttered.

Mom laughed a little at that, "I think it's the boys who are getting old,"

The discussion came to a close as three of the maids walked in the room, carrying pots and bowls and setting them on the table, I think one had soup, another a Caesar salad, then some dinner rolls in a bread basket, and a borderline Chinese looking stir-fry.

Angela thanked the maids, who nodded politely and left.

"Help yourselves," She told us, gesturing to the freshly set meal. Mello and I both settled with soup, salad and a roll each.

The rest of the evening was spent with casual chatter and jokes, and surprisingly, Mello came up with most of the jokes. I suspected that he made them up on the spot, as I had never heard them before, but I didn't put much thought into it aside from that.

By the end of the night, the slight controversy from earlier had been forgotten, and as we left to go back home I felt a lot better, happier, almost floaty. Mello had sneaked me a rather intoxicating goodbye kiss around the corner of the hall, one that left my face red and me panting for breath, along with a suspicious red mark on my neck that I had to hide from my parents. That kiss probably helped that floaty feeling develop, and by the time that we had gotten home I didn't even feel like playing games like I usually would, instead I settled for texting Mello until the late hours of the night, and eventually finding myself dozing off by 2:00 am after saying goodbye to Mello.

I had tried to think of a time in my life that I had ever been happier, but I couldn't think of one, sure there were the times as a child when I discovered games, or when I got my goggles for my birthday, but those were different, things that only lasted for a short while. Right now I was just so genuinely happy, like nothing could damage my world from now on.

I had Mello, so really nothing could, no matter what.


	11. Home and bonds

"Here ya go!" I chirped as I leaned over our new couch, handing Mello his cup of hot chocolate that he took with a "thank you," and a kiss on my wrist, before I walked around the couch to take a seat. I set my full cup of coffee on the glass table in front of us and leaned back into the couch, gazing around the room thoughtfully.

Yesterday we officially moved into our new house and there is no way I would regret it, though being in such a different place alone with Mello was, well, different. I will get used to it, but it was still a big adjustment.

The house Mello found us was a small one, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room. Compared to some standards it is a good size, my standards for example, though Mello has always lived in a big house, so he isn't used to living in a small place like this at all. But then again, he spent about a week hiding away in the market all those days ago, so I guess he'd adjust to this arrangement quicker than me. Well, I like this place, though it is a little too modern for my liking. I think it just needs some wearing into.

As for the deal Mello made so that we could get this place, Mello and I dropped out of the school after we passed a grade twelve test, so we were able to join LAPD quicker than most and even then we were still basically working as freelance detectives. Once we proved that we could do it just as well as an experienced detective they signed us into the system and told us we start work in March. So here we were, our first morning in out new house.

I yawned, rubbing my eyes sleepily. I still didn't like mornings.

I turned my attention to Mello, who was slurping his hot chocolate noisily from beside me and looking at the living room thoughtfully just as I had been a few seconds ago.

Our relationship over the last few months had gone smoothly, apart from a few disagreements here and there; silly things from when we found each other in a bad mood. But otherwise, much to our parents' surprise, we fit together perfectly, and by the time February had rolled around, both our families (and us, of course) were confident that moving in together was a good idea.

"This is really going to need some getting used to," Mello mumbled from beside me.

"It is." I agreed.

Moving into a new place, new part of LA, **together** , I didn't imagine it would be easy in the slightest. I mean, I myself had a hard time sleeping last night, even when I snuck into Mello's bed around midnight.

I leaned forward in my seat and picked up my cup of coffee, slurping at the hot liquid.

"Do you want to do something today?" Mello asked. I turned and look at him, my cup of coffee still pressed against my lips. "After you wake up?" He added with a raised eyebrow and a snicker.

I chuckled a little and nodded, "Yea sure, where do you wanna go?" I asked him, lowering my cup of coffee.

"Um..." he looked thoughtful for a little bit. "How about an arcade?" He suggested, causing me to look at him curiously.

"You hate games, why would you want to go to an arcade?"

He gave me a mock glare. "Because you love them," He drawled.

I snorted, "But you'll probably end up breaking something," I told him pointedly. "And besides, as much as I like arcades I have plenty of games right here," I said, pointing a finger towards my over sized shelf of games beside the couch.

"True. What do you think, then?"

"A theatre or a restaurant, or the pool, the park, a bar, a club..." I listed off thoughtfully earning a raised eyebrow from Mello.

"A bar?" He questioned.

I nodded, "Well, I'm eighteen, and you will be in a few months so I'm sure we could get you in," I told him.

"Have you ever drank alcohol before?" He asked me incredulously.

I grinned "No, but first times are always fun,"

Suddenly there was a smirk playing at his face and I knew I had made a small mistake in saying that. "First times, huh?" He said, placing his cup of hot chocolate on the table before leaning into me, taking my coffee out of my hands easily as I stared at him and placed it on the table beside his cup.

"I have a better idea if you want to experience a first time, you know." He purred, pushing me down on the couch and placing himself on top of me, each of his elbows beside my head. "What do you think?" He asked me playfully, cocking his head to the side.

"Um," I was at a loss for words as I stared into his deep blue eyes, that felt like his eyes were surrounding me, pulling me into them as he leaned over me. I knew he was just playing around, he wouldn't want our first time to be like this, but I was so lost in his eyes and the fact that he was so close to me that I didn't know what to say. It seems like I'm never gonna get used to his eyes, they're so intense.

His smirk turned into a playful smile, "Did I make you blush?" he asked me, breaking me from my reverie.

I smiled back, fully aware of how flushed my face was. "I think that question is irrelevant," I told him quietly, landing a peck on his lips.

"Mhm, it is," He replied, pushing his lips against mine again in a slightly longer kiss, before sitting back up, pulling me with him as he did so.

"I think we should go have breakfast somewhere," He stated, going back to his hot chocolate, slurping noisily at the liquid once again.

"Agreed." I chuckled, a content smile resting on my face as I settled beside Mello, placing my arm on his shoulder and resting my head against his neck.

"I love you, you know?" He told me, resting his head gently against mine.

"I love you too," I replied, a fluttery feeling growing in my stomach as I said so. A feeling that I was all too familiar with as well as welcomed.

It looked like our future was only going to get better from now, with us having eachother to spend the rest of our lives together.


End file.
